


Heart of Darkness

by TheEigthPillarGeneral



Series: Semper Fi [5]
Category: Alien Series, Aliens (1986), Bleach
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Androids, BAMFs, Character Death, Gen, Horror, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Space Marines, War, Weyland-Yutani, Xenomorphs (Alien)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-05-07 06:58:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 38,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19204246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEigthPillarGeneral/pseuds/TheEigthPillarGeneral
Summary: Just as the threat appears to be over, the very worst happens: Weyland-Yutani has managed to bring alien eggs to Earth. And now, the aliens have infested a military installation in the Republic of Val Verde.Renji and his unit are thrown into combat as they're sent to Val Verde to fight alongside not only other Gotei units, but also alongside the United States Colonial Marine Corps and the Val Verdean Armed Forces, against Company PMCs and aliens. Their objective: destroy the aliens before they reach any civilian populations, stop the PMCs from extracting the aliens, and help the civilians evacuate the city. Whether or not they make enemies with Weyland-Yutani doesn't matter to anyone anymore.Because this time, it's war.





	1. Premonition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having been transferred to Santiago last month, Renji tries to go out and check out the city with Hisagi. But with bad news about the lawsuit against Weyland-Yutani, and an unknown feeling of dread within, it becomes pretty tough to enjoy himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, everyone! "Heart of Darkness", where shit gets real very fast.
> 
> And yes, the title is a reference to Joseph Conrad's _Heart of Darkness_ , and another shout-out to the _Alien_ franchise, since Joseph Conrad's works get referenced quite a bit throughout the series. I thought it would be a fitting name for this story as well.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!

Santiago is completely different from Kamakura. Well, of course it would be, but Renji’s not complaining. At this point, he’s gotten used to moving to different locations in various countries around the world, and it’ll only be a matter of time before they’re sent off to a different base in a different country.

But even then, they’d been in Kamakura for some time until a month ago, so it’ll take a while for Renji to get used to the environment, especially since the seasons are reversed in Chile, and the new base. Instead of private quarters, everyone has to share a room with another, and Renji’s sharing a room with Hisagi this time. Again, he doesn’t mind. Hisagi’s a good dude.

It’s been two months since Okinawa, since Granz and Aizen were arrested, and just last month, Renji and his unit had been relocated to the capital of Chile. Meanwhile, there’s been a class-action suit against Weyland-Yutani back in Japan, and it was still ongoing when they were transferred. Renji’s been unable to access any news-channels to keep up on the investigation, since there aren’t many Japanese news channels, his English is poor, and he doesn’t speak any Spanish.

The weather today is fairly warm, almost bearing down on them during their outdoor training, but they manage to push through. Besides, Renji’s done training in hotter places before, so this is nothing.

Now that it’s late afternoon, Renji is just resting in a chair in the lounge, listening to music, and reading  _ Starship Troopers, _ having finished his shower and changed into fresh fatigues. He’s waiting for the right time to be able to call Rukia and talk to her, seeing that they’re in different time zones, and he doesn’t want to piss her off by calling while it’s midnight there.

In about half an hour, he should be good to call her.

He’s about halfway through the book when the door slides open and Hisagi enters the room. “Oi, Abarai. You wanna go and check out Santiago with me a bit later?” he asks.

Renji glances up, removing an earbud. “Sure,” he says. “Once I’ve finished calling Rukia, I’ll come with you. That okay?”

“No problem,” Hisagi says, taking a peek at the novel cover. “‘Starship Troopers’? What’s that about? Looks kinda old.”

“It’s military science fiction,” Renji tells him, smiling slightly. “And yes, it’s pretty old, but it’s interesting.”

Hisagi smirks slightly. “Well, I’m goin’ for a shower now,” he says. “You finish your call with Rukia and then come find me.”

With that, he takes a set of fresh clothes and heads for the communal shower facility.

Renji glances at his watch and notices that half an hour has already passed, so he puts his bookmark into the novel and closes it before getting out of the lounge. After changing into civilian clothes consisting of a black tank-top and blue jeans, he makes his way down to the on-base call center to call Rukia.

After what happened in Naha, Rukia has quit her job at Weyland-Yutani, and General Kuchiki has helped her get a job with the Gotei’s science department. Renji can’t help but briefly wonder about Kurosaki, Sado, and Ishida, the three-man crew of the JCSS  _ Zangetsu, _ and whether Rukia’s going to convince them to quit their jobs with the Company.

Considering that there is a huge class-action suit against Weyland-Yutani, Renji’s not going to be surprised if more and more employees are quitting. There’s no way the Company can just brush it off, right?

But then again, this is Weyland-Yutani they’re talking about. Renji’s not going to put it past them to do some shady stuff and pull some strings so they can get off the hook.

No, he shouldn’t think like that. This time, they  _ will _ be answering for all their crimes. They have to.

When he enters the call center, Renji heads to a VidiCom terminal and enters Rukia’s number in the dialpad beneath the screen. It doesn’t take too long before the screen focuses and Rukia’s face comes into view.

Rukia looks like she’s just woken up. Her long hair is somewhat messy, her violet eyes look rather sleepy, and she’s wearing a bathrobe over her pajamas. In her hand is a yellow mug with her favourite childhood character Chappy the Bunny decorated on it. However, in spite of her tiredness, she smiles at Renji.

“Hey, Renji,” she greets him.

“Morning, Rukia,” Renji says with a grin. “Am I calling at a bad time?”

“Not at all,” Rukia says. “You gotten used to your new base yet?”

“Sure have. It’s a little weird, since the seasons are reversed over here in Chile, but I’ll get used to it,” Renji tells her.

Rukia smiles slightly. “Chile, huh? Where exactly are you stationed?”

“Just outside of Santiago. It’s such a nice city. Kinda loud and crowded, but that’s part of the appeal, I guess.”

“I’ve been to Santiago once,” Rukia recalls. “I don’t remember the full details, but I do remember enjoying it.”

“Nice. Anyways, how are you doing? What’s your new job like?” Renji asks her.

At that question, Rukia seems to brighten up a bit. “Honestly, working for the Gotei is a lot better than when I worked for Weyland-Yutani,” she tells him. “Though, everyone is always being incredibly polite towards me… probably because I’m the General’s adopted younger sister.”

Renji chuckles. “Benefits of the job, am I right?”

“Not really, to be honest,” Rukia says with a light chuckle.

The humour fades away as Renji asks his next question. “Any news about the investigation into the Company?” he asks her. “I haven’t been able to keep up with the news lately, so what’s going on with it?”

Rukia’s smile fades away, and her expression becomes much more grim. “It… didn’t go too well,” she says.

“What do you mean by that?” Renji asks, not liking where this is going.

“In spite of all the evidence that’s been collected, the judge threw the case out,” Rukia says. “The Gotei underestimated just how good Weyland-Yutani is at damage control, and I honestly believe that the Company might have bribed the judge and the victims.”

Renji’s heart sinks. “You’re kidding, right?” he asks.

“I’m not,” Rukia says with a sigh. “All they got was a slap on the wrist.”

At this point, it shouldn’t be so surprising. In spite of all the evidence they’ve found in Okinawa, in spite of all the testimonies they’ve gathered… Weyland-Yutani still managed to get away with it all.

A bitter laugh escapes Renji’s lips. “Fuck…” he sighs. “I should’ve known. That goddamn Company will do everything they can so they can keep on fucking people over.”

“If it makes you feel better, you’re not the only one who’s upset,” Rukia tells him. “Nii-sama is absolutely furious, and he’s even been talking about leaking some of the evidence to the press and to the government themselves. He’s made a lot of back-up copies of whatever evidence we have: the decrypted documents, witness testimonies, and even Urahara’s data banks.”

Renji can’t help but smile slightly at that piece of information. “Leave it to him to be prepared,” he says lightly.

“Even the public is outraged. There’s even been protests going on; a lot of human rights activists and former WeYu employees have taken to protesting in the streets,” Rukia continues. “There’s a lot of pressure to get the case reopened, but it’s getting way out of hand right now.”

Protests? Now that’s new. But Renji’s definitely not complaining; if people are protesting against the verdict, then maybe this could eventually lead to the Company’s downfall. But he shouldn’t get his hopes up too high.

And if those protests are getting out of hand…

“Wait, what do you mean by ‘out of hand’?” Renji asks her.

“It’s getting violent,” Rukia says, shaking her head slightly. “People are protesting outside the Company’s Japanese branch headquarters in Tokyo, and the PMCs have been resorting to using sheer force to stop them. They’re firing tear gas and rubber bullets on the protestors.”

“Seriously? How many casualties?”

“There aren’t any official numbers, but the hospitals are getting more crowded,” Rukia tells him. “Also, it’s not just in Japan. There are a lot of other protests going on at their British and American headquarters in London and San Francisco. And I think there might even be one at their headquarters in the Sea of Tranquility on Luna.”

“Sounds like people have finally had enough of them,” Renji observes, feeling a little bit better after hearing this. “Hopefully something actually comes out of these protests.”

Rukia nods in agreement. “Yeah. I’ve also heard that a lot of people are jumping ship and quitting their jobs with the Company,” she adds. “You remember Kurosaki, Sado, and Ishida, right?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Well, they’ve recently terminated their contract. Now they’re doing deliveries for a smaller company that’s contracted to the Gotei.”

“Nice,” Renji says. “So, what are you doing in the Gotei’s science department right now?

“Oh, we’ve been working on developing an antidote for those polar flowers,” Rukia explains. “Ise and I are heading the project, and we’re using the samples from Naha in our experiments. And don’t worry, we’re being very careful with it.”

“I know you are,” Renji says with a mild chuckle. “How are Ise and Orihime doing?”

“Ise’s doing fine, and she told me to tell you she says hi,” Rukia tells him. “Orihime’s also been doing well. She says her semester is going fine, and she hopes to see you again.”

Renji smiles. “Thanks. Well, it was nice talking to you, Rukia,” he says. “I should get going now. Hisagi and I are gonna check out Santiago.”

“Nice. Take care, Renji.”

“Take care.”

The call disconnects and Renji shuts off the terminal before heading outside, where he sees Hisagi waiting for him, dressed in a black sleeveless vest over a red tank top and blue jeans. “How’d it go?” he asks.

“Rukia’s doing good,” Renji says, shrugging slightly. “Well, let’s go so we can get back before curfew.”

“Yeah.”

They both get on a bus that will take them to downtown Santiago, where they’ll get off at the Plaza de Armas. During the bus ride, Renji continues reading  _ Starship Troopers _ while Hisagi reads through a guidebook on Santiago to see what to do there.

The drive goes by quickly, and before they realize, the intercom announces that they’ve arrived at the Plaza de Armas. Renji and Hisagi disembark along with a ton of passengers, and they’re immediately hit with the warm evening air and the loud conversations all around them.

Renji shuts his book before looking around the square. There are quite a few street performers, live musicians, street vendors, local artisans, and even people playing chess. But what really catches his attention is the large fountain and the amount of Spanish architecture here.

“Nice place,” Hisagi says. “Kinda reminds me of Spain, you know?”

“It does,” Renji agrees.

“Where do you want to go here?” Hisagi asks. “There’s a lot of historical buildings we can check out.”

“Let’s just take our time right now,” Renji suggests.

And so that’s what the two of them do. They just casually walk around the plaza, checking out some of the local artworks being sold, and even stopping to see some of the performers.

The atmosphere seems to be a lot more energetic than usual, which is curious. Renji asks about it to one of the locals, who explains that it’s almost  _ Día de la Raza, _ or “Day of the Race”, a public holiday. There are typically a lot of celebrations around this time, especially leading up to the actual day.

Renji tries to let himself get caught up in the infectious energy and enjoy himself, but it’s so difficult right now. No, he’s not feeling sad or upset, but for some reason, something deep down in him is telling him that there’s something bad about to happen. He doesn’t know what it is, but he feels like something truly horrifying is going to happen very soon. His fight-or-flight instincts just won’t calm down, and Renji doesn’t know why.

Maybe it’s because he’s been reading too much military fiction these days? Well, if that’s the case, then… that’s just stupid. Or could it be because of the Company managing to come out unscathed from the lawsuit?

_ Just calm down. _ Renji thinks to himself, taking a deep breath.  _ It’s a beautiful evening, have some fun. _

But in spite of telling himself those words repeatedly, Renji just can’t let his guard down. He tries to enjoy himself, enjoy the sights around him, but it’s getting harder to ignore that gut feeling.

And it’s not even a very pleasant feeling. It’s a very weird kind of dread, like something doesn’t feel right. Renji tries to tell himself that it’s just nerves, but after a while, he’s not so sure.

It doesn’t take long for Hisagi to take notice of Renji’s turmoil, so he asks him, “you wanna sit somewhere quiet?”.

Renji blinks slightly before glancing at Hisagi. “S-Sure,” he says.

Hisagi takes him to the Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral, and the sudden quiet is a welcome break from the loudness of the plaza. Plus, the inside of the cathedral is gorgeous, which is another benefit.

They head to one of the pews in the back and take a seat, and Renji just takes a drink of water from his bottle before he stares up at the ornate ceiling.

“Alright, what’s going on?” Hisagi asks him.

Renji glances at him. “What do you mean?”

“Ya think I didn’t notice? You’re kinda acting like this place is a combat zone, and well… not really relaxing,” Hisagi tells him. “Don’t deny it, Abarai. I know you’re a lifer and all that, but even Zaraki knows when to relax. This isn’t training or combat, so what’s wrong?”

Well, he’s got a point. Renji just sighs and buries his face in his palms.

“Okay, well…” Renji rubs his face and looks back at Hisagi. “You ever feel like something bad is gonna happen, but you don’t know why?”

“Kinda, I guess,” Hisagi says, shrugging.

“Well, I’m feeling that right now,” Renji tells him. “No matter what I’m telling myself, there’s something telling me that something bad, something really fucked-up, is gonna happen soon. And I don’t even know what or why I’m feeling it.”

Hisagi frowns slightly. “What does that feel like?”

“Like some really weird kind of dread,” Renji says. “My chest feels tight, it feels like something’s not sitting right in my stomach, and just… I’m on major fight-or-flight and I don’t know why. I’m really not liking it at all.”

Slowly nodding, Hisagi then looks thoughtful. “Maybe it’s just belated culture shock?” he suggests.

“We transferred here last month,” Renji points out. “I’ve had plenty of time to get over that. And like I said, it’s like a… a premonition, or something like that.”

Hisagi shrugs. “I dunno what to say, Abarai. I mean, I’m not Unohana,” he says. “Maybe if you talk to her, she might know something.”

“Yeah. I should book an appointment,” Renji agrees.

“Or maybe it’s from that book you were reading earlier. ‘Starfighters’, you called it?”

“‘Starship Troopers’, actually,” Renji corrects him.

“Yeah, that.” Hisagi raises an eyebrow. “Anyways, what’s it about?”

Renji smiles slightly in spite of himself. “Well, it was published in the 1950’s. It’s about a bug war between humans and aliens in the future,” he says. “Sure, sounds kinda cliché, but it’s well-written. There’s a lotta interesting stuff as well; stuff about war, militarism, coming-of-age and all that.”

“Huh. You know, I never would’ve thought you were into that kind of stuff, Abarai,” Hisagi says. “All the vintage and retro stuff… never figured you liked that.”

Renji shrugs. “Dunno. There’s something kinda interesting to see how people in the 20th century saw the future,” he says.

Hisagi chuckles slightly. “You feeling anxious because you think there’s gonna be a bug war or something?” he teases.

“Oh, shut up,” Renji mutters, rolling his eyes. “That’s completely unrelated.”

“But you do feel better, right?” Hisagi points out.

Not completely, to be honest. But Renji just shrugs a little. “I guess I do.”

“Then that’s good.”

Renji smiles weakly. “Yeah, I guess.” He then glances at his watch. “We should head to the bus stop soon so we can make it back before curfew.”

“Good idea,” Hisagi says.

With that, they get up and leave the cathedral before heading to the bus stop. And despite their earlier conversation, that feeling of dread hasn’t gone away at all.

Renji just knows he’s going to have a nightmare tonight. He just knows it.

* * *

The next morning, Renji wakes up from a night of bad dreams, his heart nearly racing as he slowly takes a deep breath to calm himself down. That dread and premonition of something fucked-up hasn’t gone away at all; if anything, it’s only grown stronger.

As Renji gets ready for the day, changing into his fatigues and tying his hair up, he quickly realizes that there’s something eerily familiar about this kind of dread. He can’t put his finger on it, but he hopes that a talk with Unohana will be able to quell his worries.

Unfortunately, the rest of the squad is quick to pick up on Renji’s turmoil at breakfast.

“Ya know, the food isn’t  _ that _ bad, Abarai,” Yadomaru jokes.

Renji nods absentmindedly. “I’m not very hungry,” he admits.

“Something on your mind, man?” Bazz-B asks.

“Just thinking about today’s training,” Renji tries to lie.

“Come on, you really think we’re gonna believe that?” Mila Rose asks.

Renji’s about to speak when Akon enters the mess hall and approaches the table. “Sergeant Zaraki is waiting for all of you in the briefing room,” he tells them. “He’s requested that you all come immediately.”

Nodding, Renji stands up and picks up his tray. “Alright, guys. Let’s head down there now,” he says, his voice becoming a bit more authoritative.

On the way to the briefing room, Renji gets that premonition again, and it’s not going away in spite of him trying to calm himself down.  _ Breakfast probably isn’t agreeing with me. _ He tries to reassure himself.

Deep down, he knows that’s not the case.

When they reach the briefing room, Renji takes a seat next to Hisagi and Kira and starts sharpening his combat knife. A short while later, Zaraki enters the room and turns on the giant screen, which displays a map of the world.

As Zaraki controls the map to zoom in on South America, the door slides open. To Renji’s surprise, Kyoraku enters the room.

_ “Attention!” _ Kyoraku commands.

Instantly, everyone stands up, and Zaraki turns to salute Kyoraku.

Kyoraku nods. “At ease.”

Everyone sits back down, and the dread that Renji’s feeling only amplifies even further. His heart is beating quicker, he feels some knots in his stomach, and his Inuzuri instincts are slowly beginning to kick in.

_ Why’s Colonel Kyoraku here? What the hell is going on? _ Renji wonders.

His squadmates are also looking quite concerned at this.

“You’re probably wondering why Colonel Kyoraku is here,” Zaraki begins, his voice unusually serious as he paces a little. “Let me tell you this, first of all. This is no ordinary mission we’ve been given. This is a very serious situation we have to deal with.”

Renji’s stomach sinks slightly.

“Remember this creature? You encountered it on LV-352,” Kyoraku begins, pressing a button on a remote.

Renji’s eyes widen in shock, and he tenses up as the image appears on the screen. A biomechanical creature with no eyes, an elongated head, inner jaws hidden behind a drooling, perpetually-leering mouth…

Xenomorph XX121.

_ This isn’t happening, _ Renji thinks to himself, his horror steadily mounting. It can’t be.

“This… This isn’t real, right?” Mila Rose asks, her voice just as shocked as she asks what everyone’s thinking.

Kyoraku’s expression becomes grim.

“I’m afraid it’s very real, Private,” he tells her. “They’re here on Earth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, we begin this story.
> 
> Val Verde is a fictional country that is used by the Hollywood writer/producer Steven E. de Souza, when he's setting a story in a Central or South American place that won't cause any legal or diplomatic problems. The country first appears in the 1985 Arnold Schwarzenegger film _Commando_ , and it's also where the movie _Predator_ takes place. The name translates to "Green Valley" in Spanish.
> 
> I'm taking my own liberties with Val Verde for this story, such as cities and all that, but I think it works well for the setting.
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!
> 
> P.S. Have you seen the _Alien_ stage play at the North Bergen High School?


	2. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With news of the Xenomorphs on Earth, and with the Gotei, the USCM, and the Verdean Armed Forces officially declaring war against Weyland-Yutani, Renji and his squad are sent to the city of Hueco in Val Verde to engage in combat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 2. I apologize if this chapter seems shorter, but I'd had some difficulty writing it. I do hope you all enjoy!

Something crashes within Renji as Kyoraku’s words echo in his mind. Not just in his heart, but in his very soul. His heart is pounding against his chest, his palms are growing sweaty, and it’s as if time stops in this moment. Did... Did he hear him right? Those aliens are here on Earth? For real?

There’s no way this is true. It can’t be true. It has to be some kind of a cruel joke. How the hell did Weyland-Yutani manage this? Is this for real, or is it just a nightmare? Hell, just last night, Renji had dreamed of seeing everyone in his current squad getting killed by those creatures…

And now they’re here on Earth. This has been Renji’s worst nightmare since his first encounter with them, and now it’s become a horrific reality.

His squadmates look just as shocked, just as horrified.

“How?” Renji’s voice is distant. “How… How did they come to Earth?”

Kyoraku starts speaking again, and Renji tries to compose himself so he can pay attention.

“A Weyland-Yutani shipment of Xenomorph XX121 eggs was delivered to a military installation in the city of Hueco, located here,” Kyoraku begins, gesturing to the map.

The map zooms in on a small landlocked country surrounded by Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay, with the name ‘Val Verde’ printed across it. The small star beneath the country name indicates the capital city, San Cristóbal, and a bit further away from that is a larger dot with the name ‘Hueco’ beside it.

“‘Hollow’...” Mila Rose mumbles. “What a cheerful name.”

“The military installation in question, the Santa Barbára Garrison, has now been overrun and infested by the Xenomorphs, and the city of Hueco has been occupied by Weyland-Yutani PMCs,” Kyoraku explains. “The PMCs are planning on extracting the Xenomorphs from the base, and we obviously can’t let that happen.”

“Which is where you guys are all coming in,” Zaraki tells them, his voice serious. “As of now, the Verdean Armed Forces have been receiving assistance from the United States Colonial Marines and the Gotei, so your mission is to go in and assist in kicking some ass. We cannot let those things get anywhere near civilian areas, and we cannot let the Company get their hands on those sons of bitches, and right now, we got a death toll that’s getting higher every goddamn day, so we gotta make it stop climbing.”

“So this is a legit hot zone, Sarge?” Madarame asks.

“You bet your ass it is, Private,” Zaraki tells him.

“Does this mean we’re at war now?” Bazz-B asks, his voice more serious.

Kyoraku nods, his expression grave. “Indeed, we’re at war,” he says. “General Kuchiki of the Gotei, General Jackie Tristan of the USCM, and General Rodrigo González of the Verdean Armed Forces have officially declared war against Weyland-Yutani at the parliament building in San Cristóbal, so now it’s our duty to go and provide our assistance to the USCM, the Val Verdean Army, and the rest of the Gotei in combat.”

“So let’s move it, people!” Zaraki barks, making everyone stand up. “Get to the armory and start gettin’ your weapons ready! We’re gonna need all the firepower we can get if we wanna get through this shit! We’ll be leaving this afternoon at exactly eleven-hundred, so let’s go, sweethearts!”

Instantly, everyone leaves the meeting room, heading down quickly to the armory to get their weapons, ammo, and armour ready.

It’s been a while since they’d last been in a really bad hot zone; apart from LV-352, most of what they’ve been taking care of this past while were things such as terrorism, cleanup, and accidents. But never a full-on warzone. The seriousness of the situation reflects clearly in the atmosphere. There’s no chatter or smartass remarks from anyone; the atmosphere is too serious, too grim for anything like that. Even Bazz-B is quiet, not offering any stupid jokes or banter. 

When they reach the armory, everyone is swift in getting ready. Renji throws open his locker, briefly glancing at the demon poster and the photos of himself and Rukia taped on the inside before he grabs his armour. Once he slips his vest over his black tank-top, Renji then attaches his shoulder lamp, and then takes care of his abdominal armour. Then, he straps on his leg armour, making sure the straps are secure and tight, but not too uncomfortable.

From the corner of his eye, Renji sees Kira and Yadomaru leaving the armory with all their weapons; now they have to get the cargo plane ready for take-off.

From the nearby TV in the armory, a Japanese news channel is running; the announcer on the screen is reporting about the events in Val Verde.

_“And now for the international news: in the Republic of Val Verde, a Weyland-Yutani shipment of extraterrestrial eggs to a military base in the city of Hueco has resulted in a massive outbreak of deadly alien life forms within the installation. While the Verdean Armed Forces have managed to quarantine the Santa Barbára Garrison, there’s still a risk of the creatures breaking free and the infestation spreading to civilian populations. And with Weyland-Yutani PMCs trying to extract the organisms, the risk of the infestation spreading is high. Just yesterday, the Gotei Colonial Marines, the United States Colonial Marine Corps, and the Verdean Armed Forces have all declared war against Weyland-Yutani; this was decided at the Capitolio Nacional in San Cristóbal, the capital city of Val Verde, and has been backed and supported by the American and Verdean presidents and the Japanese prime minister…”_

With his armour taken care of, Renji then ties his hair into a side ponytail so it can fit under his helmet, and then slips on his microphone headset. He places his helmet on his head and secures it, and then takes his pulse rifle out, but just before he closes his locker, he notices his brand-new shotgun resting in its scabbard. Renji pauses for a moment, and then takes it, slinging the scabbard over his back before grabbing several shotgun shells and putting them into his webbing belt.

Best to keep it handy for close encounters.

Meanwhile, on the TV screen, there’s a clip of General Kuchiki at the parliament building in San Cristóbal alongside a dark-skinned woman with black hair in a bob and a tall, well-built older man with bronze skin and graying black hair, all three of them in their decorated uniforms.

 _“On behalf of the Federal Government of Japan, the United States of America, and the Republic of Val Verde, we have hereby officially declared war against the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, and the Prime Minister and Presidents are hereby authorized and directed to employ the Colonial Marine Corps of the United States and Japan to carry on war against Weyland-Yutani Corporation…”_ General Kuchiki is speaking, his English fluent and only slightly accented.

Slinging his pulse rifle over his shoulder, Renji then grabs several rounds of caseless ammo. He makes sure to get lots of ammo before putting the ammo sling over his torso; like Zaraki said, they’ll need all the firepower they can get if they want to destroy those aliens.

At that thought, a burning rage surges through him. How many lives have already been lost now? How many people have been killed by those creatures, by Weyland-Yutani’s greed? Does the Company even realize just how badly they’ve fucked up?

Of course they don’t; they won’t ever realize. As if they ever gave a damn about human lives.

Strapping his combat knife against his belt, Renji steels his resolve.

He’s going to destroy every last alien that’s in that city. Every single one of those godless sons of bitches… Renji’s going to blow them all to kingdom come and farther.

“What are you thinking about?”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Renji glances at Bazz-B. “What?”

“You got your thinking face on, Abarai,” Bazz-B points out.

Renji nods as he grabs some medkit packs. “Yeah. I’m thinking about how I’m gonna destroy every single one of those Xenomorphs,” he says darkly. “And if any of those Company PMCs even try and get in my way, I’ll destroy them too.”

Bazz-B seems to be trying to resist the urge to smirk. “You got that right,” he agrees.

“Alright, you people ready?” Zaraki calls. “Head down to the mess hall, fill up your canteens, grab your rations, and then head out to the ready line! Let’s move it out, sweethearts! Come on!”

Renji heads out of the armory to the mess hall, his pace quick. When he reaches the mess hall, he fills up his canteen with water and grabs a pack of combat rations before joining the rest of his unit in a line.

“Head outside, people! Let’s go!” Zaraki barks.

Instantly, everyone heads outside before running to the cargo plane, where Kyoraku is waiting for them. Muguruma and Mila Rose are sent in first, and then Zaraki barks at the others to head inside the plane. As Renji rushes into the plane’s hold, he hears Soifon and Akon going over their medical equipment before he takes a seat between Zaraki and Hisagi.

Ten minutes later, Kyoraku shouts, “We’re good to go!”.

“Affirmative!” Yadomaru shouts back from the cockpit.

Right then, the plane shoots down the runway before lifting off. Renji feels a sinking feeling in his stomach, and he tries to ignore it for now.

“You nervous?” Muguruma asks, getting Renji’s attention.

Renji glances at him and nods silently. “Yeah.”

“Don’t worry, Abarai,” Bazz-B tries to reassure him. “We’ve faced off against them once, and we all survived. We’ll be in and out in no time.”

“I wouldn’t be that hopeful,” Hisagi says grimly. “You heard what the Colonel said. There’s a death toll on the rise over there.”

“That’s just your lack of confidence talking.”

“This isn’t just dealing with insurgents, Bazz,” Renji reminds him. “Some of us could get shot and hurt. Some of us could die. I don’t want to lose anyone, whether it’s to Weyland-Yutani or to the aliens.”

Silence falls over everyone again, and Renji closes his eyes, hoping to catch some sleep.

But then his thoughts turn to the situation at that installation in Hueco.

The news reporter said it’s a “mass outbreak”. Just how many eggs have been delivered there? Just what exactly went down?

Renji can’t help but imagine the events that must’ve taken place. One of the personnel must’ve been impregnated by one of those parasites after getting too close to an egg. None of the others would’ve realized just what had happened to him until… until the chestburster.

And from there… it would’ve quickly devolved into chaos. People have probably been either killed brutally, either through a headbite, impalement from the tail, or acid blood. Or even worse… they could've been taken away and cocooned to become hosts for more of those fucking things.

God… this is the last thing Renji expected to happen. But considering that one of their scientists had no qualms about sending an ill-prepared, dysfunctional unit to the death trap that was Iwashiro, and another one of them had no problems locking up two civilian women in a medlab with Facehuggers, it really shouldn’t be a surprise.

And now they’ve finally managed to bring their stupid _precious bioweapons_ home.

Renji’s hands tremble slightly, whether from anger or anxiety, he doesn’t know.

Right before he succumbs to sleep, only one thought rings through Renji’s mind.

_This time, it’s war._

* * *

Renji sleeps for the rest of the flight. He doesn’t know how much time has passed when he wakes up, but he’s told that they’re nearing the makeshift base in Val Verde now.

He blinks slightly to try and get rid of his fatigue when he actually gets a good look at Kyoraku; specifically, his armour.

He’s seen the Colonel in his fatigues before, but never with his battle armour. Like everyone else, his armour is also customized with personal details. On the shoulder pads, there are some pink flowers that have become faded with time, but it’s the details on the vest that really catch Renji’s attention.

On the left side, right over his heart, there’s a design of a red hannya mask, its face sneering at anyone who looks at it. On the right side are some Japanese kanji in white that translate into the sentence: “When the flower wind rages, the flower god roars. When the wind of heaven rages, the god of the underworld sneers”.

An interesting choice of decorations, Renji can’t help but think. He wonders why Kyoraku has chosen to have that specific phrase on his armour, but it’s probably a personal thing for him. Much like how Renji’s own tattoo patterns, his camellia design, and the skeletal snake on his own armour are all personal details.

A short while later, the plane lands at the makeshift base, located well over a mile away from the fighting. When the plane comes to a stop, everyone stands up and gets ready as the hatch opens.

“Alright, let’s move out, people!” Zaraki orders.

Zaraki and Kyoraku lead the way, and Renji leads the rest of the squad outside the plane.

Instantly, they’re hit with humid heat and the harsh glare of the afternoon sun bearing down on them. Renji notices that the base is located near a thick, green rainforest; personnel are moving about with various equipment, loading them onto several planes or unloading them into some smaller buildings. Some soldiers are doing some training together, or just talking with each other while smoking or sharpening combat knives. The air is peppered with various conversations in English, Spanish, and Japanese.

Right then, three people in fatigues come up to greet them. Renji recognizes General Kuchiki; next to him are General Jackie Tristan of the United States Colonial Marines, and General Rodrigo González of the Verdean Armed Forces.

And following them are none other than Shihouin, Ukitake, and even Sasakibe.

Upon seeing them, Renji and the others stop and salute the three Generals.

General González nods in greeting. _“Bienvenidos,”_ he greets. “Welcome to Val Verde, Sergeant Zaraki, Colonel Kyoraku.” His Japanese is fairly fluent, to Renji’s pleasant surprise.

“Afternoon, General González,” Zaraki says. “How many other Gotei units are here?”

“More Gotei and USCM units stationed in South America are on their way here,” General Kuchiki answers. “We should be getting them very soon.”

“We asked that your unit come here as soon as possible because we heard that your corporal has encountered these so-called Xenomorphs twice,” General Tristan explains. “We need to get as much information about these creatures, so we know what to do.”

“Right. That’d be Corporal Abarai here,” Zaraki says, gesturing at Renji.

Renji nods and steps forward. “Pleasure to meet you, Generals,” he says, his voice formal.

“Is it true you’ve encountered these creatures twice?” General González asks him.

“Yes, sir,” Renji says. Feeling that same uneasiness within him, he then asks, “how bad is the situation?”

“There are already quite a few casualties in the Verdean Army,” General Kuchiki explains. “We've managed to evacuate the remaining personnel of the Santa Barbára Garrison, but it's still a high number. And that’s not counting the number of casualties when the infestation happened.”

“Which is why we need your insight on these creatures, Abarai,” Sasakibe tells him. “Tell us everything you know about the Xenomorphs; how we can kill them, how to destroy them, we need to know everything.”

“Yes, sir,” Renji agrees.

“And once we have that information, we’ll be able to come up with a strategy to beat the PMCs before they somehow get those creatures out of the base,” General Tristan says.

“So follow us, please,” Shihouin tells them. “The meeting room is this way.”

As they follow the officers to a nearby building, Renji notices General Kuchiki approaching him. “Sir?” he asks.

“Before you go, there are three people here to see you,” General Kuchiki tells him. “Please come with me.”

After getting the clear to do so, Renji follows General Kuchiki to the infirmary. He’s a little curious at first, but when they enter the building, Renji quickly sees why.

Waiting for him are a very anxious-looking Rukia, Orihime, and Ise.

Renji can’t help but smile a little bit. “Rukia, Ise, Orihime,” he greets. “What are you doing here?”

He’s suddenly knocked back a little bit when Rukia and Orihime throw themselves on him in a tight hug. Renji stands still for a moment, and then he relaxes and returns the hug, feeling Orihime tremble in his arms.

“What’s wrong?” he asks gently.

“I had to come and see you,” Rukia whispers, her voice almost fragile. “We heard about everything, and Nii-sama allowed me to see you before you go.”

Orihime looks up at Renji, her eyes scared. “Is it true that you’re at war now?” she asks.

Renji nods solemnly. “Yeah, unfortunately,” he says. “Those goddamn aliens are here on Earth.”

“You’ll destroy every last one of them, right?” Ise asks, her voice firm yet worried.

“I will,” Renji tells them.

“Promise us you won’t die!” Orihime pleads with him. “You can’t die, Abarai-kun! So please… please promise us!”

Renji’s eyes soften slightly, and he pulls Orihime in for a quick, yet warm hug. Orihime hugs him tightly, and Renji hears a quiet sob from her before he pulls away.

“I promise,” Renji says seriously. “I swear I’ll kill every last one of those godless sons of bitches.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To quote the tagline from _Aliens_ : "This time, it's war". 
> 
> This story is going to be a bit more difficult to write, since it's going to be about modern warfare and all that, but I do look forward to writing it out, of course. The fighting hasn't yet started, but it'll start soon enough.
> 
> Edit: I removed the part where it's mentioned that there are still personnel in the garrison; that was an error from my initial planning.
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!


	3. Into the Hot Zone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting a summary of the infestation at the Santa Barbára Garrison, Renji and his unit head into combat against the PMCs and take care of rescuing some civilians.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 3. I had some difficulty writing this chapter out, but here it is. I hope you all enjoy!
> 
> P.S. I had to remove the subplot concerning people still trapped in the garrison, because there's already a lot of things for me to work with here, and I felt like that would hinder the story.

After saying his own goodbyes to Rukia, Ise, and Orihime, General Kuchiki leads Renji down to the meeting room, where the rest of his unit is waiting for him. 

During the walk, Renji takes notice of General Kuchiki’s battle armour, particularly the designs on it.

Over his heart on the front are the kanji characters that spell out ‘Hisana’. On his right shoulder pad is the kanji for ‘honour’ and ‘duty’, and on the lower left side of the front side of his armour are several pink sakura flowers. On the back, Renji notices a rather strange green cartoon character with the name ‘Wakame Taishi’ beneath it, and the phrase ‘ame futte chi katamaru’ printed in white across the area above the shoulder blades. But what surprises Renji the most is seeing black jagged designs much like his own tattoos on the left shoulder pad.

As if noticing his focus on the shoulder pad, General Kuchiki glances at him. “You like those ones?” he asks. “They’re quite recent.”

“They look like the ones on my armour,” Renji points out.

The smallest of smiles briefly appears on General Kuchiki’s face. “Yes, that was the intention,” he admits.

Renji doesn’t know exactly what that means, but he feels very… touched. To think that a high-ranking officer would actually pay tribute to him by copying his own armour designs… Renji blushes slightly, but quickly composes himself when they reach the meeting room.

The room is not too big, but not too small either, and the walls are occupied by several large screens. In the middle of the room is a large table with a map on the surface.

Also waiting in the room are several high-ranking officers from the Gotei, the USCM, and the Verdean Armed Forces. General González and General Tristan are among them, of course, and so are Tousen, Shihouin, Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Sasakibe. At the screens is none other than Urahara. 

But what surprises Renji the most is the presence of the older man with a wooden cane in his right hand.

He recognizes him instantly. With his long white beard, long eyebrows, and scars, this man is Marshal General Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni.

Yamamoto may look old and rather frail, but there is definitely nothing weak about him. His eyes are hardened and stern, and the scars on his face mean that he’s definitely not to be fucked with. His uniform is nearly covered in ribbons and medals, and Renji can almost sense a much stronger figure underneath that uniform. He knows in that moment that this is someone who has seen so much shit in his time, and he’s lived to tell the tale.

If the Marshal General has to be called down here, then things must really be getting bad.

Renji and General Kuchiki salute the Marshal General, who simply nods. 

“Good evening, sir,” General Kuchiki greets him.

“Long time no see, Kuchiki,” Yamamoto says, his voice grave. “It’s been a while since we had combat this intense.”

“Indeed, it has.”

Yamamoto then turns his gaze on Renji, who tries not to flinch under his strict eyes. “You must be Corporal Abarai Renji,” he says.

“Yes, sir,” Renji says politely.

This is his first time seeing the Marshal General in the flesh, and Renji’s pretty nervous as to how to conduct himself around him. But it seems like Yamamoto is in no mood for polite conduct right now.

“You’ve encountered these creatures twice, correct?” Yamamoto asks him. “Then we need your wisdom and knowledge about them, so we can destroy them all and bring down Weyland-Yutani for good. So tell us everything you know.”

“Yes, sir.” Renji goes to stand with the rest of his squad, while General Kuchiki goes to stand with the rest of the officers.

Then, General González speaks. “Before you begin, Corporal, Captain Halibel needs to explain the situation first,” he tells him.

Right then, a dark-skinned blonde woman with piercing green eyes steps forward. Like everyone else, she’s dressed in fatigues and combat armour with her own personal decorations printed over it. Most stand out on it is the design of a great white shark over her heart.

When she speaks, her voice is cool and rather hardened. Her Japanese is also quite fluent, albeit with a slight accent.

“The whole infestation happened five days ago,” Halibel begins, folding her arms over her chest. “Back then, we were expecting a shipment of bioweapons from Weyland-Yutani for testing purposes. None of us knew just what those bioweapons were, or why they were being delivered to the Santa Barbára Garrison, but we didn’t question it, at least until the delivery arrived.

“The shipping crates contained some very strange looking eggs. They looked almost leathery, and they had a very foul smell. One of them suddenly opened up when Private Nakeem Grindina got close to it, and when he looked inside, some kind of spider-like parasite shot out and latched onto his face, subduing him almost instantly.”

Renji unconsciously clenches his fists, and his heart sinks. 

“We managed to get him out and into the medbay, but we couldn’t get the parasite off him,” Halibel continues. “The medics tried cutting the limbs off, but it bled acid, and we couldn’t risk killing him. But then, about several hours later, the parasite fell off and just… disappeared. Oddly enough, we didn’t find it. Shortly after that, Private Grindina woke up.”

Halibel closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before she continues speaking.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” she says with a shudder. “I was asking him questions when he complained of a bitter taste in his mouth, and then he suddenly started convulsing and choking.  _ Dios mío…  _ I can still hear his screaming. The medics tried to restrain and subdue him, and that’s when his chest almost exploded and splattered blood everywhere. We were too shocked to do anything when we noticed a large, worm-like creature emerging from the cavity in Grindina’s chest. And before any of us could act, it just escaped.

“I started a search party to find that creature and destroy it immediately. It was hours into our search when we found the parasite… lying right next to Private Rinker’s corpse. Like Grindina, he also had a bloody chest cavity from the same kind of creature.”

Renji’s mind pauses, and he frowns.  _ Wait a minute… was that the same parasite?  _ He wonders. Can those parasites really impregnate two victims? He’s never heard of that happening before.

“Some of my men encountered the creature… they didn’t make it,” Halibel says, her voice grave. “Soon, before we even knew it, more of those things showed up, and none of us stood a chance, even with all our weapons. The situation got out of hand, we were overpowered, and over half the personnel of the Santa Barbára Garrison were killed by those creatures. I immediately ordered the remaining personnel to evacuate, and when Colonel Ruíz showed up with his men, we quarantined the entire base. Those creatures are trapped in there now, but who knows when or how they’ll break free from there.”

Halibel takes a deep breath. “And that’s what happened,” she says. “And now Weyland-Yutani wants to get their hands on those things, they’ve occupied Hueco, and we’ve been in combat against them for days now.”

Silence hangs in the air for a brief moment before General Kuchiki speaks. “We’ve sent out information regarding the Xenomorphs to the USCM and the Verdean Army,” he says. “And once this meeting is done, we’ll send out all the information about our strategy to all the squads arriving here.”

General González nods before he turns to Renji. “Now if you’ll explain those creatures, Corporal,” he tells him, then glances at Urahara. “Are the photos ready?”

“Yes, General,” Urahara says.

He taps at a few keys and the photos come up on the screen.

Renji explains everything about the Xenomorphs’ life cycle, first starting out with the egg. “It begins as an egg. When it senses someone getting close to it, it opens up, and that parasite comes out and latches onto the person’s face.”

The next photo comes up, and Renji pauses for a moment as he looks at it, frowning slightly.

The photo is that of a Facehugger, but there’s something very different about it.

First of all, that Facehugger is a lot bigger than the ones that Renji’s seen before. It’s coloured in a darker brown tone, has webbed digits, and even a bladed tail. Compared to the other paler, more crab-like Facehugger, this one is much more creepy and spider-like.

(Not that the other ones aren’t creepy, of course.)

Again, that dread pools thickly in Renji’s stomach as he swallows hard. He tries to ignore it as he explains the rest of the creatures’ life cycle and confirming Halibel’s story in the process. If anyone notices his unease, they don’t say anything.

“Once the creature is grown, that’s when it’s at its most dangerous,” Renji says, looking down. “It’s very intelligent, and very sadistic. It’ll either kill you with its inner jaws, its tail, or it’ll take you to a nest and cocoon you into the walls, where you’ll become a host for another one of those creatures.”

Naturally, everyone looks disturbed at the explanation. Even Yamamoto looks profoundly unsettled.

“So what exactly happened when you first encountered these creatures?” General Tristan asks him, quickly recovering from her shock.

Renji tenses up slightly, but General Kuchiki gives him a look of reassurance. Feeling somewhat better, he tells them everything that happened on Iwashiro. He explains how the station had been screwed over from the beginning, how Weyland-Yutani had ordered a shipment of alien eggs onto the station, and then bought it, shut down the communications, and rendered everyone there as expendable. He tells them how his entire old unit was slaughtered in less than twenty-four hours, how only one of the creatures then hunted down the rest of his unit, leaving him all alone in that cold and dark station, and how he blew up the entire place as he was escaping.

By the time he’s finished telling it again, Renji feels very overwhelmed already. But he forces himself to maintain composure, especially since they’ll be going into combat shortly after this meeting.

“So you were sent as an inexperienced Marine to this station with no idea what the creatures were, with a very dysfunctional unit, and with very little firepower?” General Tristan asks.

“Yes, ma’am,” Renji says.

“God…” She shakes her head. “What about the second time? On LV-352?”

“That time, we all managed to survive, as you can see,” Renji tells her. “But we got sent there because the Hokutan research facility went offline, and we had to go in and investigate. Instead, we found only one survivor, a student nurse on her internship, and all the other scientists and researchers had been slaughtered by the aliens. I’d say it’s because we had more experience, and because we’re able to get along with one another, that we were able to survive.”

“Plus, we had more firepower,” Zaraki adds.

“But it still didn’t stop that  _ hijo de puta  _ Kurotsuchi from trapping Ise and Inoue in the medlab with those  _ chingado  _ Facehuggers to try and impregnate them,” Mila Rose says darkly.

“And that’s Weyland-Yutani for you. Always fucking someone over for their goddamn percentages,” Shihouin says, her voice just as dark.

“Damn right,” Renji agrees, his voice trembling with anger. “Because of those things, I’ve been suffering from PTSD for about four years now. I still have nightmares and flashbacks of Iwashiro and those goddamn aliens, and now the Company’s managed to bring them to Earth.”

General González shakes his head, looking rather dismayed and angered at the same time. “So how do we destroy them?”

“We take off and nuke it from orbit,” Renji tells him. “It’s the only way to be sure.”

“Well, here’s the situation. The Weyland-Yutani PMCs have already occupied Hueco, and from my understanding, they’re trying to destroy the barricades that have quarantined the garrison so they can extract the creatures. They’ve already bombed one of our barracks in an air attack,” General González explains. “Even more, there are still civilians in the city; not everyone had been able to evacuate, and as of now, there’s a total of sixty civilian casualties. And that death toll is only going to rise unless we do something.”

Sixty people. Sixty civilians are now dead or injured because of Weyland-Yutani’s greed.

Trying to quell his anger, Renji listens to the rest of General González’s strategy.

“Like you were told, our mission is to evacuate the remaining civilians, drive the Weyland-Yutani PMCs out of Hueco and into the jungle, and then liberate Hueco,” General González explains. “Only then we’ll be able to destroy the base without causing any more casualties.”

“But we’ll have to do this within two to three days,” General Kuchiki chimes in. “The garrison may be barricaded now, but the barricades can only hold for so long before those creatures destroy them and escape. And if they escape…” He trails off, not wanting to finish his sentence.

Renji understands nevertheless.

“What kind of weapons can we use to kill those creatures?” Halibel asks.

“Pulse rifles and flamethrowers,” Zaraki tells her. “But make sure you’ve got lots of ammo and fuel, and make sure you avoid the acid blood.”

“Very well. Thank you for the information, Sergeant.” General González’s face hardens. “Now, there are several APCs waiting outside to take you to the urban area. There are already some Gotei, USCM and Verdean Army units out fighting the PMCs, so you and Lieutenant Sasakibe will be going there to assist them. We’ll be following soon after.”

Then, General Kuchiki approaches them. “And remember,” he says, regarding them seriously. “We may be centuries into the future, but we Marines are all samurai at heart. So if we die, we die with honour, just like the samurai. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!” Renji shouts along with the rest of his squad.

“Alright, people! Get to the ready line and move it out!” Zaraki shouts at them. “Come on, let’s go!”

Renji, Zaraki, and Sasakibe lead everyone outside the building towards the waiting APC. As they rush towards it, Renji notices several more planes landing at the makeshift base, with various Japanese and American units rushing towards other APCs. There isn’t any more time to observe as he’s pushed inside the APC and heads to his seat, sitting down next to Hisagi and Mila Rose.

There’s no slowing down, no waiting. It’s game time.

* * *

 

As the APC rumbles down the jungle terrain, Renji tries to stay focused on the mission and task at hand. It should be easy, since it’s all silent and he can hardly hear anything outside the APC, thanks to the running motor and the sounds of multiple radios being active, but Renji finds himself thinking about the meeting all over again.

And his thoughts are mainly focused on the photo of that strange Facehugger.

There’s no way he’d been imagining it; that Facehugger was bigger, darker-coloured, and more vicious-looking than the smaller ones he’s seen so far. But why does it look different? Something’s not right about it, and Renji does not like this gut feeling within him.

No, he can’t be concerned about it now. Not when there are corrupt corporate PMCs to fight against.

But even so, shouldn’t he at least tell General Kuchiki about his concerns? But what if it does turn out to be nothing?

His thoughts are interrupted when the APC jolts sharply, and an explosion is heard.

Instantly, Renji enters into combat mode.

“Get out! Everybody, out!” he shouts, getting up as Lieutenant Sasakibe slides the door open. “Black, Hisagi! Protect the smartgunners, we got RPGs ahead of us! Come on, let’s go!”

Once he gets everyone out of the APC, Renji joins his rifle team and he’s able to get a good look at his surroundings.

They’re in an urban area close to a thick green jungle. Clouds of smoke rise up in nearly every direction, and the air is filled with the rattling of machine guns, the firing of pulse rifles, and even a lot of shouting in English, Spanish, and Japanese.

“Come on, you guys! Let’s get outta here!” Renji calls at Soifon, Hisagi, and Mila Rose.

Renji leads them away from the APC, wielding his pulse rifle when he notices a black-clad PMC hiding behind the corner of a building. The man is aiming a sniper rifle at Hisagi, but Renji is much quicker.

In a split-second, Renji fires several rounds through the PMC, and blood explodes from his chest as he falls to the ground.

“Get cover!” Renji shouts at his team.

Sweat is already running down Renji’s face as he and his team sprint to a flaming, hollowed-out tank resting near the rainforest. Close to the foliage are a couple of abandoned civilian buildings, most likely apartments.

Bullets rattle against the shell of the tank, but Renji and Mila Rose emerge from behind it in order to fire their pulse rifle and smartgun towards the rainforest. They then quickly rush back in time before someone shoots the area where they’d been standing.

“The PMCs are most likely using the rainforest as a cover,” Soifon observes, her voice raised. “We’ll have to press through there!”

“Our task is to keep ‘em away from the civilians!” Renji shouts back. “We’re too close, as it is! We need to start forcing them into the rainforest before they get the upper hand!”

In that moment, Renji happens to glance towards one of the apartment buildings in time to see a small cluster of civilians, hands bound and mouths gagged, being forced into the building itself. Leading them are several black-clad PMCs.

Turning back to the others, Renji speaks. “We got some civilian hostages over in that apartment building over there,” he tells them, pointing toward the building. “Don’t know how many PMCs there are, but there’s gotta be a lot.”

“We need to get ‘em outta here,” Mila Rose says.

“I know. But we gotta tell Zaraki first,” Renji says. Adjusting his mic, he calls for Zaraki. “Come in, Sarge.”

_ “What is it?” _ Zaraki asks. On the other end, Renji can hear some heavy gunfire.

“We got some civilian hostages in an apartment building near the rainforest. We’re gonna rescue ‘em and get rid of the PMCs there.”

_ “Alright. What’s your position?” _

Once Renji gives his position, he receives the clear to do so.  _ “Right. Go get those civilians, and I’ll try and get someone to retrieve ‘em for evacuation. And don’t die,” _ Zaraki tells him.

“Affirmative, Sarge. Abarai out.” Renji disconnects the mic and turns back to the others. “Let’s go.”

They make their way over to the building while making sure to keep an eye on their motion trackers for any PMCs that might try and get them. When they get close enough to the building, Renji holds his tracker at the building, and sure enough, quite a few blips show up on the screen.

“Looks like there’s a lot of ‘em,” he murmurs. 

He then glances back at the others.

“Let’s go inside,” he says. “Soifon, Hisagi, you guys rescue the hostages. Mila Rose and I will take care of the PMCs.”

“Got it,” Mila Rose says.

“Affirmative,” Soifon adds.

“Yeah,” Hisagi says.

With that, the four of them head up to the entrance. Holding his motion tracker at the door, Renji scans the screen briefly. “Clear.”

He pushes the door open as quietly as he can, and then Soifon, Hisagi, and Mila Rose head inside. Renji follows them and shuts the door, and then he goes in front of them before they do a sweep of every room in the main floor.

Every single apartment is empty, except for furniture and a few personal items in some of them. For a moment, Renji tries to imagine what this place looked like with civilians living their lives here, but he quickly regains his focus. Right now, what’s important is getting those civilians out of there safely.

Once everyone confirms that no one is on this level, they head up to the second floor above to do a sweep there.

Just like the main level, the second floor is also empty. The walls are damaged from bullet holes, and there are even a couple of burn marks. But in one of the rooms, Renji notices a few children’s drawings left scattered on the ground.

His stomach sinks.

General González had said that sixty civilians have been killed so far. Are there any children among those dead people? Renji doesn’t even want to think about that. Children are always the first victims during a war, always left vulnerable to abuse and exploitation in conflict. And honestly, Renji is not going to put it past the Company to try and exploit kids at this point.

God… if he finds out that there are children being exploited by the Company right now, well… let’s just say that Renji’s gonna be kicking a lot of ass.

Once they finish their sweep of the second floor, they head up to the third floor. This time, they have some luck.

Peering through the crack of a slightly open door, they find the civilians in one of the rooms: three women, two elderly men, and two children. Their wrists are still bound, their mouths still gagged, and they appear to have been roughed up a little bit. One of the kids has a bruise on his face, the other one is silently weeping. 

In the next room, through the ajar door, they see that several PMCs are there, either talking to each other in English, smoking cigarettes, or playing cards.

Renji glances at Soifon, Mila Rose, and Hisagi. “On three,” he mouths, holding his free hand up. “One. Two. Three!”

Soifon and Hisagi rush to the civilians, while Renji and Mila Rose kick the door to the other room open, catching the PMCs off-guard.

With a grin, Mila Rose shouts,  _ “¡Sorpresa!”,  _ and then opens fire on the PMCs who try to fire at her first.

Blood sprays from their chests as they’re flown back from the force of the smartgun.

From the corner of his eye, Renji notices a PMC trying to shoot at him from another room. Acting quickly, he aims his rifle and pumps the guy full of lead before advancing further into the room. 

The guy’s body barely hits the floor when Renji suddenly feels a burst of heat behind him.

_ Fuck. _ He thinks. Quickly throwing himself on the ground, Renji fires some more rounds at a flamethrower operator from behind a table. 

He gets a lucky shot; one of the bullets pierces through the flamethrower’s fuel tank, causing an explosion. At least three other PMCs are caught in it, and they’re all blown right out of the building, crashing through some glass windows as they fall while screaming.

There’s more shouting in English before more PMCs come and open fire, and Renji quickly pushes the table over onto its side to try and provide at least some cover from the bullets.

After a while, the PMCs finally retreat and escape from the apartment.

When the dust clears, Renji scans the room for more PMCs, but it seems like there are no more. “Mila Rose!” he calls.

“All clear!” Mila Rose calls back, reentering the main room. “The rest of ‘em just escaped through the windows.”

Renji nods, and then taps his mic. “Hisagi? Soifon? You got the civilians?” he asks.

_ “Affirmative,” _ Hisagi says.  _ “But can you bring Mila Rose down here? Neither of us speak Spanish.” _

“Got it. On our way.” Renji disconnects and then glances at Mila Rose. “Let’s go.”

Renji and Mila Rose head down to the next room where the civilians are. When they get there, they see that they’ve already been released from their binds and gags, and Soifon is currently tending to them.

“You guys take care of the PMCs?” Hisagi asks.

“We sure did,” Mila Rose says, a crooked grin on her face. “Felt good to surprise ‘em.”

“Mila Rose, you talk to the civilians,” Renji tells her. “I’ll let Zaraki and the lieutenant know that we’ve got ‘em.”

Mila Rose nods, and then turns to the civilians.  _ “¿Qué pasó?” _ she asks them.

As the civilians speak to her, Renji connects his mic. “Sarge, Lieutenant, can you read me?” he asks.

_ “Yeah, we’re here,”  _ Zaraki says.

“The PMCs are gone now. We’ve got the civilians here,” Renji tells them. “They’re all safe. Soifon’s just checking up on them.”

_ “Good. We’ll get some people down there to collect them. Keep your guard,” _ Sasakibe tells him.

“Affirmative. Abarai out.”

Disconnecting, Renji turns to the others. “Some Verdean officials will be coming to collect ‘em,” he says. “Let’s bring them outside.”

* * *

After some coaxing, they’re able to bring the civilians out of the apartment building, and it doesn’t take too long before a Verdean Army jeep arrives to collect the civilians. As they leave, Renji notices Mila Rose give a tiny smile to the kids and wave at them before they get into the jeep.

Shortly after the jeep drives away, Renji and the others head away from the apartment building grounds further into the combat zone. 

As they do so, Renji can’t help but look up at the fiery-orange sky. To think it’s only been one day already.

“How long do you think this war is gonna go for?” Hisagi asks.

“Until we destroy those creatures,” Renji says darkly. “And until that happens, we gotta keep moving. So let’s go.”

With that, they keep their guard up as they head further into the combat zone, the sounds of gunfire filling the evening air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, the action begins. Again, this was pretty tough to write, but I hope I did okay. And don't worry, the aliens will definitely be coming pretty soon ;)
> 
> Extra Note: the phrase on Byakuya's armour, "ame futte chi katamaru" means "after the rain, the earth hardens". It basically means "adversity builds character".
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!


	4. Club Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 3 of the war has come, and Renji ends up in a fight against a psychotic PMC after one of his teammates gets seriously injured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 4, with more action and a bit of cheesy 80's action movie fighting; after all, it's not a proper love letter to _Aliens_ if I don't include some 80's action movie goodness, lol.
> 
> I was also influenced by watching the play-throughs of the video game _Aliens vs Predator_ , which has a pretty kickass soundtrack to it, especially the Club Hive shootout part. That being said, I hope you enjoy!

Renji wakes up from a surprisingly dreamless sleep. He doesn’t know how that’s even possible in combat, but it happened. He glances around at his surroundings, remembering that they’ve holed up in this abandoned building for some quick rest, but a quick look outside the window shows that it’s still dark out.

That’s when Renji notices that Hisagi is already awake, and Soifon and Mila Rose are just waking up now.

“How long was I out for?” Renji asks, getting Hisagi’s attention.

“‘Bout an hour and a half,” Hisagi responds morosely. “Sun’s not up yet, though.”

“You should’ve gotten some sleep then,” Renji tells him. “I coulda kept watch over you guys.”

Soifon snorts. “Seriously? Remember what I told you in Riga? Worry ‘bout your own damn self first, Abarai.”

“Well, I’m the Corporal, and it’s my job to watch out for you guys.”

“Yeah, but what good is that if you don’t get some sleep?” Mila Rose asks, eating a kanpan cracker from her field rations pack.

 _She has a point._ Renji concedes as he takes out his rations to eat something.

Field rations are generally rather mediocre, but so long as it sustains a Marine, it doesn’t really matter how it tastes. However, Renji doesn’t really have much of an appetite, but he knows he needs that energy to last longer. But he’s not going to eat the rice or chicken yakitori; he’ll save that for later. Instead, he eats some of the dried seaweed and kanpan crackers in his pack.

After a swig of water to wash it down, Renji notices that Hisagi is still very subdued. His eyes are cast down, and he only nibbles at his dried seaweed.

It’s already the third day, and things have only been getting worse. Already, there are a lot of casualties on both sides. A few Xenomorphs have somehow escaped the garrison; not all of them, but a few. Yet even then, they managed to cause enough deaths before being destroyed. And last night, they learned that Tousen was killed in action when defending some grunts from a rather psychotic PMC. In addition to that, Ukitake was wounded in action from a mine; according to Sasakibe, Ukitake’s left arm was blown off from the mine, and now he’s been taken to a field hospital.

Hisagi had been beside himself with grief at the news of Tousen’s death, and it seems like he still is. Renji doesn’t blame him, though.

“Hisagi,” Renji says, his voice a bit softer. “Hisagi, look at me.”

He turns to look at Renji. “What?”

Renji looks down. “I’m really sorry about the Major,” he says sincerely.

A bitter smile crosses Hisagi’s face. “I’ve always looked up to Major Tousen,” he confesses. “I met him back in high school, when he was with the Gotei’s recruiting program, and he showed up at my school to give a presentation about enlisting. After the presentation, he shook my hand and told me that he could sense a strong potential in me, and that I looked like someone who’ll have a good career in the Gotei.”

Renji simply remains silent as Hisagi recalls his memories of the late Major.

“In fact, he saw me through my basic training; he was basically my mentor,” Hisagi continues. “And right before I joined up under Zaraki, he wished me all the best with my career, and he said he looked forward to meeting me again. And now… now he’s gone.”

“He was a good man,” Renji says. “Which is why you must keep going, Hisagi. So you can uphold Major Tousen’s honour, and prove that you’ve come a long way from where you used to be.”

Hisagi nods somberly. Then, all the melancholy from his eyes disappears, changing into anger. “You’re right, Abarai. I’ll find the bastard who killed Tousen and personally kill him,” he vows. “I don’t care if he’s a psycho, I’ll show him why you don’t fuck with the Gotei.”

Renji just nods, choosing not to say anything. When Hisagi’s this angry, nothing can calm him down or stop him from pursuing his goals.

“Alright then,” Renji says, getting up. “Let’s keep moving.”

Keep moving. That’s what you gotta do in combat. Or else it won’t be long before the enemy finds you.

Hisagi, Mila Rose, and Soifon follow Renji to the entrance of the building. Checking their motion trackers to make sure there’s no potential ambush, they open the doors and get outside. 

The moment they leave the building, the sounds of gunfire and explosions become much louder. And in spite of their attempts at stealth by sneaking out through the alley, some PMCs in the neighbouring building take notice of them and aim their guns in their direction from the ground floor windows.

Soifon is much quicker than they are, and she fires her pulse rifle at the PMCs, taking out four of them on the second floor. As their bullet-ridden bodies fall either back or out of the windows, Renji and the others continue moving away from the area, occasionally shooting at any PMCs who try to get them.

Sprinting to a deserted APC, Renji and the others get behind it for cover. As bullets rattle against the shell of the APC, Mila Rose looks over to Renji. “Where the hell are we supposed to go now?!” she shouts over the noise.

“We need to try and meet up with either Sarge or Lieutenant Sasakibe, and then help ‘em out with whatever shit they’re dealing with!” Renji shouts back.

Right then, as if on cue, Sasakibe’s voice comes in through Renji’s headset. _“Corporal Abarai. Come in, do you read me?”_ he asks, his voice urgent. Distantly, Renji swears he hears what sounds like club music.

“Yeah, I read you!”

_“Where are you?”_

“Right behind an APC that’s getting shot at!” Renji shouts over the sounds of Mila Rose and Hisagi firing their smartgun and pulse rifle at the PMCs.

_“Good! I’m with Captain Shihouin right now, and we need some backup over here!”_

“What’s the situation?”

Then Shihouin’s voice comes in, and she sounds just as urgent. _“We’re in a nightclub trying to get some American Marines freed from these fucking PMCs, but they’re relentless! We need some backup, ASAP! Do you copy, Abarai?!”_ she demands.

“Affirmative, Captain!” Renji says. “We’ll be on our way! What’s your position?”

 _“It’s a building with the sign ‘Las Noches’, you can’t miss it! It’s still in the industrial area, so you should be able to find it!”_ Shihouin tells him.

“Copy that! Abarai, out!”

With that, Renji disconnects and turns back to his squadmates. Mila Rose and Hisagi are in the middle of reloading their guns as they turn their attention to Renji.

“Well? What are we gonna do now?”

“We gotta get to Lieutenant Sasakibe and Captain Shihouin,” Renji tells them. “Some American Marines are trapped in a club called Las Noches, so they’re trying to free them, but right now, they’ve gotten into a shootout against some PMCs. They need backup right away.”

“A nightclub?” Hisagi repeats, surprised.

Renji shrugs. “Dunno. But we gotta go and help out now,” he says. “Keep an eye out for a building with the sign ‘Las Noches’ on it. But watch out for PMCs, got it?”

“Yeah, we got it,” Mila Rose says.

“Let’s move out now.”

The gunfire against the PMC has already died down, and so the four of them carefully manoeuver their way through the hot zone as fast as they can, shooting at any PMCs that try to fire at them.

As they make their way through the area, Renji can’t help but notice just how industrial most of Hueco seems to be. Granted, they’re in the more military and industrial part of the city, so that is to be expected, but even then, it’s almost as if Hueco is an off-planet mining colony than an actual city on Earth.

In fact, Val Verde in general has had a very… interesting history. It’s had a long history of American involvement in its political affairs, as well as a history of insurgency, civil wars, drug wars, and revolutions, especially in the 20th century. 

It now looks like the Verdean people now have another thing to add to their history books: the Xenomorph infestation of Santa Barbára, and the war against Weyland-Yutani.

Renji’s thoughts are interrupted when he notices an industrial-looking building with a broken sign with the name ‘Las Noches’ on it. And then, as if on cue, Shihouin’s voice comes through their headsets.

 _“You guys almost here yet?!”_ Shihouin asks urgently.

“We’re here,” Renji says.

 _“Go through the back,”_ Sasakibe tells them. _“Then take the elevator to the second floor, that’s right where we are.”_

“Affirmative.”

Once Sasakibe disconnects, Renji then turns to his teammates. “Alright, let’s find an entrance,” he tells them. “A back door, to be specific.”

They make their way to the back of the building, and find an entrance there. And that’s when they notice the loud ‘thump-thump’ of club music playing inside, to their surprise.

“The fuck? Is there actually music playing inside?” Hisagi asks, bewildered.

“Who knows? Let’s just keep going,” Renji says, placing his hand on the door.

He pushes it open and looks around the entrance hall, pulse rifle at the ready. The music is a bit louder now, and pulse rifle and machine gunfire can be heard from the club. Towards the back of the hall is an elevator.

Renji leads his squadmates to the elevator and once everyone is inside, he hits the button for the second floor. The doors slide shut, and as the elevator goes up, the music gradually gets louder and louder until Renji can practically feel it vibrating through his body.

A few moments later, the elevator stops at the second floor, and the doors slide open.

The sight before them is truly something else.

Strobe lights are flashing, heavy club music is blaring over the speakers. But the music isn’t loud enough to drown out the near-constant gunfire.

“Where’s Lieutenant Sasakibe?” Mila Rose raises her voice over the music.

Renji scans the room looking for the Lieutenant. It doesn’t take too long to find him, Shihouin, and several other American and Gotei Marines behind some barricades on a mezzanine, shooting down at some PMCs on the club floor downstairs.

“There they are!” Renji tells them. “Let’s go!”

They rush over to Sasakibe and Shihouin, but as they do so, some of the PMCs take notice and start shooting at them.

“Fuck,” Renji curses, swiftly aiming his rifle and shooting at the PMCs. He hits three of them, all of them dead before they hit the ground, and then keeps on going.

Sasakibe is firing a VP78 pistol at the PMCs, while Shihouin is using the standard pulse rifle. Shihouin glances up from the shooting gallery and upon seeing Renji and his squadmates, she looks rather relieved.

“There you are! Come on and help us out!” she orders.

Neither Renji nor his squadmates waste time in getting behind the barricades and shooting down at the PMCs. However, the strobe lights are making it fairly difficult for visibility, and the music is so loud that it’s almost hard to actually think.

Leaning over the top of the barricade, Renji shoots his pulse rifle in short, controlled bursts at a relentless PMC, only to be forced to duck for cover when his magazine empties and the PMC starts firing back. Cursing to himself, he gets behind the barricade, unloads the empty magazine, and slaps in a new round.

“What’s the situation, Captain?” Renji raises his voice. “Why the hell are there music and strobe lights here?”

“The PMCs turned on the club’s power to make rescuing the American Marines harder!” Shihouin shouts back.

“Where are those Marines?!” Soifon shouts while firing her pulse rifle.

“They’re being held hostage over with the PMCs!” Sasakibe says while firing his pistol. “Not only do these bastards have hostages, but Major Tousen’s killer is among them!”

Hisagi falters slightly, but then his eyes harden. “Which one of them killed the Major?” he asks, his voice cold as she shoots a PMC.

Renji pauses slightly at Hisagi’s tone. _Don’t tell me…_

“Nnoitra Gilga,” Sasakibe says, pausing to reload his pistol. “According to Captain David Moore, he was a former member of the USCM, but he got dishonorably discharged for excessive brutality.”

“Damn right,” an American man, whom Renji assumes is David Moore, says grimly. “He’s one ruthless son of a bitch. We had to discharge him ‘cause he was too fuckin’ dangerous. Shoulda known he’d join up with Weyland-Yutani.”

“Which one of those PMCs is Nnoitra Gilga?” Hisagi demands.

“Hisagi, don’t-” Renji starts.

“He’s a skinny guy with an eyepatch and long greasy hair,” Shihouin says. “Also look for the crazy smile on his face.”

Frowning slightly, Renji peers over the top of the barricade to look for him. It takes a short while, but he’s quickly able to pinpoint the skinny, greasy-haired PMC with an eyepatch and a bloodthirsty grin on his face. In fact, the bastard seems to be laughing as he shoots at them.

Well, no wonder he was discharged. Nnoitra Gilga truly appears to be a maniac.

Right then, Gilga’s eyes land on Renji, and the grin disappears and becomes a scowl. He holds his hand up, and then yells at the rest of the PMCs to stop shooting.

Amazingly, they stop.

Confused, Sasakibe and Shihouin also stop shooting, prompting the others here to stop as well.

The grin returning to his face, Gilga climbs over the barricade on the ground floor and steps out into the open. “Would you look at that?” he asks, his voice leering and gleeful. “Can you believe it?! The Stray Dog himself has shown up!”

Renji frowns. “You talkin’ ‘bout me?” he asks.

“Who else would I be talking about?” Gilga retorts. “Ya think I haven’t heard of you before, Abarai Renji?!” He brandishes his rifle with a manic thrill. “Man, I’ve been lookin’ forward to killin’ ya. And ta think we’d meet almost right away…”

With a cruel leer, Gilga slowly runs his tongue over the barrel of his rifle, enjoying every second of it.

A shiver of disgust runs down Renji’s spine. _Great. Now I got a bloodthirsty nutjob to deal with._

His thoughts are interrupted by sudden fire from a pulse rifle. Glancing at his left, Renji’s surprised to see Hisagi glaring murderously at Gilga.

“You son of a bitch…” Hisagi snarls. “You’re the one who murdered Major Tousen!”

It doesn’t take too long for Gilga to make the connection, and a knowing grin crosses his face. “You’re right… I did kill him,” he says cruelly. “You wanna know how he died?”

“Hisagi, don’t listen to him,” Renji warns. “He’s messing with you, don’t let him-”

“Ya see, the son of a bitch was more interested in defending some grunts I wanted to fight,” Gilga explains, clearly enjoying it. “Not that it mattered much. Even though those grunts escaped, I just pumped his body full of lead. He was fuckin’ dead before he hit the ground. Kind of a shame, really. I wanted to see him suffer before he died.”

Hisagi’s eyes widen in rage. “You-!” He fires a round at Gilga, who simply avoids it.

“Hisagi, don’t!” Renji shouts, but it’s too late.

Gilga aims his sniper rifle at Hisagi and fires a bullet at him. Before Hisagi can even react, the bullet goes right through his shoulder pad, shattering the armour before blood sprays out of the wound as he collapses to the ground.

“Hisagi!” Mila Rose shouts, completely stunned.

“Hisagi, no!” Soifon cries out.

For a moment, Renji is frozen in shock. But then Gilga lets out a crazed laugh that snaps Renji out of his stupor. Instantly, his Inuzuri instincts kick in as he reaches for his combat knife, unsheathing it.

_Oh, now he’s done it. He’s fucking dead._

“Captain, Lieutenant,” Renji says, getting their attention. “Watch over Hisagi and call for an airlift. I’ll take care of this bastard.”

“You sure?” Shihouin asks.

“There’s no point in just subduing him,” Renji points out. “The guy’s crazy. We have to kill him before he hurts anyone else.”

Sasakibe nods. “Very well. Be careful.”

As his blood rushes through him, Renji jumps down from the mezzanine, landing on his feet right before Gilga. He’s gonna bring this bastard down, but not with a gun. He has another idea.

“Oh? You comin’ down so you can die too?” Gilga taunts.

Renji hardly even flinches. “Come on, Gilga. Throw away the gun,” he goads. “I can see it in your eyes. You don’t want to just pull the trigger, right?”

As he continues speaking, he sees Gilga’s eyes clouding over slightly. Renji knows that this is downright suicidal, but it’s the only way. 

“You wanna put the knife in me, look me in the eye, and see what’s goin’ on in there right as you twist it, huh? That’s what you want,” Renji tells him. “So come on. Don’t deprive yourself of the pleasure! Come on, Gilga, let’s dance!”

A crazed laugh escapes Gilga’s lips. “Yeah… I don’t need the gun, Abarai.” Raising his voice, he shouts, “I don’t need no gun!” as he throws his gun away.

Pulling out his own combat knife, Gilga looks like he’s actually about to orgasm as he shouts, “I’m gonna kill you now!”

Then, he lunges at Renji while slashing his knife. Renji is quicker, and he jumps back slightly, raising his own knife. Gilga slashes the knife towards Renji’s face, and Renji instinctively holds his arm up to defend himself. A sharp pain runs through him as the knife slashes his forearm, and Renji can feel blood spilling from the cut down his arm.

Not even flinching, Renji just leans back as Gilga tries to stab at his face again. It’s getting a little tiring at this point, but he has to keep going. Gilga’s a maniac, and he needs to end him right now. If only he can find a suitable opening…

Right then, Gilga knocks him down with a kick in the stomach. Renji collapses to the ground on his back with a grunt of pain, and before he can even gather his thoughts, Gilga steps on his chest.

Renji grunts in pain again, but that’s when he notices that Gilga’s leg isn’t protected by any armour. Hell, he’s not even wearing any armour. 

He smirks inwardly. _Anyone ever told you to never let your guard down?_

“What’s the matter, huh?!” Gilga taunts with a crazed laugh. “You too much of a pussy, Abarai?! Come on and fight like a man!”

A savage grin spreads across Renji’s face. “Oh, you want a fight?” He grips his knife tightly, “Then, break a leg!”

He drives the blade into Gilga’s leg and slashes it downwards, cutting the tendon as blood spills out onto Renji’s hand.

Gilga lets out a howl of pain as Renji yanks out the knife, shoving him off before swiftly getting back up onto his feet. He tries to ignore the feeling of Gilga’s blood on his hand, but doing that was very much necessary.

Glaring furiously at him, Gilga tries to climb back up. “You… You fucker…!” he snarls. “Fuck you, asshole! You destroyed my fucking leg!”

Letting out a scream of rage, Gilga tries to rush towards Renji, brandishing his knife with the intent to kill in his eyes. But Renji just stands there, waiting for the right moment, waiting for him to get a bit closer. He doesn’t want to do this, but it’s the only way to end it right now.

“I’m gonna kill you, motherfucker!” Gilga screams, raising his blade over his head.

Moving quickly, Renji stabs his knife between Gilga’s ribs. He watches as the latter’s eyes widen in shock, and then yanks the blade out with only a slight tug before Gilga collapses to the ground.

As he pants slightly, coming down from the adrenaline, Renji turns around to look at the PMCs, glaring at them. “Now, who’s next?” he asks, brandishing his knife for effect.

Fortunately, these PMCs are smart, and they get the message. Instantly, they retreat.

Once they’re all gone, Renji heads to the elevator and takes it back up to the second floor before heading to the others. “Gilga’s dead,” he tells them.

“Your arm…” Shihouin points out.

“It’s nothing,” Renji reassures her. “I just need it bandaged up.”

That’s when he sees Hisagi lying down on what looks like a makeshift stretcher, grimacing in pain as Soifon tries to treat him. Blood has soaked pretty much the entire left side of Hisagi’s shirt, and it’s obvious that there’s no way he can continue fighting with that kind of injury.

“How is he?” Renji asks.

“We’ve radioed for air support to take him to the field hospital,” Soifon tells him, taking care of the wound on his arm. “He can’t fight with this kind of injury any more, though.”

Hisagi opens his eyes and glances at Renji. “Oi… Abarai.” His voice is hoarse. “Did… Did you… kill that guy?”

Renji’s eyes soften. “He’s dead,” he says. “Don’t worry. He’s gone now.”

A weak smile crosses Hisagi’s face. “Thank you…” he whispers, closing his eyes. “Thank you, Abarai.”

* * *

A short while later, once they’ve shut the club’s power off and retrieved the captured Marines, an APC full of injured soldiers and Marines shows up to retrieve Hisagi. Renji, Mila Rose, and Sasakibe help Soifon with carrying the stretcher while Shihouin and the American guide them down until they reach outside.

Once Hisagi is loaded into the APC, it drives to a waiting dropship from the Verdean Air Force, which quickly takes off for the field hospital.

When it’s gone, Shihouin turns to Renji. “I don’t know how you managed to hold your own against that maniac, but you did good, Abarai,” she praises.

“But now, we gotta keep going,” Mila Rose says. “We need to meet up with the others.”

“You’re right,” Renji agrees. He taps a button on his headset. “Sarge, it’s Abarai. Do you read me?”

 _“Yeah, I read you,”_ Zaraki says after a moment. _“Where are you?”_

“We’re with Captain Shihouin and Lieutenant Sasakibe,” Renji says. “Hisagi is down; he took a round to the shoulder and had to-” 

His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a siren in the distance. It’s not just any siren, though. It sounds almost like an air raid or an earthquake siren.

Hearing it sends a chill down Renji’s spine. “What the fuck?” he whispers. Ice forms in his stomach.

“What the hell is that?” Shihouin asks, tensing up.

No one knows what the hell is going on. But Renji has a bad feeling about it.

Right then, General Kuchiki’s voice comes through on every single Gotei Marine’s headset. His voice is urgent, and Renji’s stomach drops as he hears him make the announcement.

 _“Things have escalated now,”_ General Kuchiki announces gravely. _“The Xenomorphs-- they’ve escaped the garrison.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, the aliens are officially back now. The knife fight between Renji and Nnoitra was a bit tough to write, but it's a shout-out to the movie _Commando_. And Renji's "Break a leg" line? Again, I had to include a one-liner for that scene, lol.
> 
> As a note: kanpan crackers is the Japanese version of hardtack crackers, which are biscuits/crackers made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. They're often eaten in the absence of perishable foods, and are commonly used in military campaigns. Kanpan crackers are a part of the field rations of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, so I figured they'd still use them in the future.
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!


	5. Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that the Xenomorphs have escaped the garrison, Renji and the others rush to rejoin the rest of the squad and help out with evacuating the remaining civilians.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 5, where the action really ramps up. In order to really get a feel for this chapter, I recommend you listen to this piece of music: "The Predalien" from _Aliens vs Predator_ 2010 video game, mainly for the jungle section and the fight scenes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkX0-V0LTac). I listened to it while writing, which really helped me get this chapter out.
> 
> Also, a warning for some depictions of violence and blood in this chapter.
> 
> That being said, I hope you enjoy!

It’s as if time stops at that moment. General Kuchiki’s words ring through Renji’s mind, almost mockingly, as he tries to register the information.

The aliens have already gotten out. Those fucking monsters are now loose among humans… and there are still civilians who need to be evacuated.

This is not good.

Right then, in the distance, Renji hears a familiar, yet dreadful screech that can only belong to those fucking aliens.

Swallowing slightly, he asks the General, “This is Abarai. How the hell did they break out?”

 _“Somehow, they managed to destroy the barricades,”_ General Kuchiki explains, his voice raised over the constant gunfire. _“They’ve escaped the garrison already; we’re doing our best to fight them off, but they’ve been killing soldiers and Marines left and right! And some of ‘em have even been taken away back into the garrison!”_

“Fuck…” Renji curses. “What about the PMCs?”

 _“They’re also getting killed; those things don’t spare anyone, it appears!”_ General Kuchiki tells them. _“The Company’s now deploying combat synthetics to fight us, so now we got both aliens and androids to deal with over here!”_

As the General relays this information, Renji looks around. Sure enough, several PMCs are falling back, though there seem to be some who refuse to fall back.

“How many aliens are there?” Shihouin asks into her mic.

_“Too many to count. I don’t even know how the hell all those aliens even came to be.”_

“What do you want us to do, sir?” Renji asks.

 _“Our goal now is to get all remaining civilians outta this hellhole, and destroy every last of these sons of bitches. And then, we’ll nuke the garrison and send those fuckers back to Hell,”_ General Kuchiki responds darkly. _“Abarai, I want you to regroup with your unit, aid in evacuating as many civilians as you can, and then come down to the frontlines to help us destroy these Xenomorphs. Kuchiki out.”_

He disconnects and right then, Zaraki’s voice comes back through Renji, Mila Rose, and Soifon’s headsets.

 _“You heard the General,”_ Zaraki tells them. _“We’re at the warehouse by the Hueco oil refinery, right on the other side of the jungle. Look for the APC, but hurry up. Zaraki out.”_

“Affirmative.” With that, Renji disconnects, and then turns back to the others.

“We need to get going now,” he says urgently. “Which way to the Hueco Oil Refinery?”

“This way,” Shihouin says, gesturing to the jungle on the right. “We can get there through the jungle, but we gotta be careful. Who knows if those fuckers are hiding out in there?”

“Alright, then,” Renji says. “Let’s go.”

With that, the five of them quickly head to the jungle, trying to avoid the gunfire and shooting back at the enemy if they need to. More and more combat androids are starting to come in the place of the human PMCs, and they’re just as relentless, if not more so, than the PMCs.

Plus, they’re super fucking creepy, maybe even creepier than the Working Joes in Okinawa. They’re known to be much harder to kill, not even pulse rifle fire can do anything to damage them. A smartgun shot to the head can do much more damage and actually take them out, but they’ll have to be careful to avoid the energy wave being discharged after that.

As the combat androids shoot at them, Renji finds himself relying on his grenade launcher more than the main pulse rifle. Yet those things just won’t let up.

“Come on, we gotta keep moving!” Shihouin shouts at them. “Let’s back up first, and then kill ‘em with your smartgun, Mila Rose!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Mila Rose shouts back.

They back up into the jungle until they’re a reasonable distance away, all while trying to avoid the gunfire from the androids. Then, Mila Rose takes out the androids with accurate headshots, one-by-one.

“Good job, Mila Rose!” Renji praises. “Let’s keep going now!”

With that, they turn and keep moving through the rainforest and rough terrain towards the refinery.

At this point, the alien shrieks and screeches can be heard all the way here; Renji finds himself tensing up as those shrieks ring in his mind. For a moment, he finds himself at that nest on Iwashiro again, but this time, he shakes his head. He’s not going to let it take over his mind now. Not when they’re at war.

How many people are dead, now that those things have escaped? How many have been taken away to be turned into hosts for more of those aliens? He doesn’t know, and to be frank, he doesn’t really _want_ to know either.

That’s when another thought crosses his mind.

Who the hell is responsible for the alien eggs being delivered to Earth?

It’s definitely someone at Weyland-Yutani, but who exactly? Even more, just why the hell did they decide to ship them to fucking Earth? Are they really that desperate for their _precious fucking bioweapons_ that they thought that sending the eggs to an unaware military garrison was a great idea?

 _Oh, who am I kidding?_ Renji thinks sourly. 

It’s Weyland-Yutani. As if they’ve ever given a fuck about innocent lives before. So long as they get their goals accomplished, they don’t care about who has to die in the process.

At least the world is aware of this now. There’s no way the Company will be able to deny or hide this war from them. And there’s definitely no way they can hide the existence of the Xenomorphs anymore; the public will know, and they’ll go down crashing and burning like they deserve.

Speaking of the Xenomorphs, though…

General Kuchiki had said that there were “too many to count”. Does that mean there are hundreds? Thousands? If so, how is that even possible?

How did that many aliens even come to exist in the first place?

Renji recalls the meeting with General González, where they showed a photo of the parasite that had subdued the two people in the garrison. Again, he can’t help but remember just how different it had looked from the ones that he’s seen so far.

And again, that sinking feeling comes back. It’s the same kind of bad feeling he’s felt in the past: before Iwashiro, before the insurgency in Latvia, before LV-352, and before this war broke out. Renji can’t help but think that there’s something much, _much_ worse that none of them have seen yet. What exactly it is, he doesn’t know, and he’s not sure if he wants to know at this point.

His heart is pounding hard against his chest, and Renji feels his palms growing slightly damp with sweat. He’s also very thirsty. The late afternoon sun bears down on them, and the jungle humidity is almost unbearable right now. Strands of his hair cling to his equally sweaty face, and he reaches down to his canteen for a drink.

Twisting open the cap, Renji takes a quick drink of water before closing it and putting it back in his belt. He feels somewhat rejuvenated, but his anger, which had been dull until now, flares strongly.

Whoever it is that ordered those alien eggs to Val Verde… Renji hopes he gets to meet him in combat… alive. There’s no sense in finding out that he’s already dead.

“Abarai?” Renji’s thoughts are interrupted by Soifon’s voice.

Renji glances over his shoulder and notices her looking at him with mild worry.

“What?”

“You’ve got your thinking face on,” Soifon points out. “What’s goin’ on?”

Renji bites his lower lip before shaking his head slightly. “Just wondering who the fuck is responsible for bringing those eggs to Earth,” he says. “I hope to meet him in combat, and he’d better be alive by the time we meet. Because when we do meet… I’m gonna personally end him right there.”

 _But can you really?_ He wonders to himself. _Are you really capable of doing something like that?_

Before he can even think further, the ultrasound beeping of his motion tracker interrupts his thoughts. Renji glances down at his screen, and he tenses up as he notices multiple signals heading their way. 

“I got multiple readings here,” he says, getting everyone’s attention.

Then, as if on cue, an alien screeching comes much closer. Glancing to his right, Renji’s eyes widen slightly as he sees the familiar biomechanical creatures clawing their way up the trees towards them. 

 _“Hijo de puta…”_ Mila Rose whispers, blood draining from her face.

“Fuck!” Renji curses, hoisting his pulse rifle up towards the creatures. “They’re here! Shoot ‘em now!”

Instantly, he opens fire on the creatures, shooting them with short, controlled bursts. The others also join in, firing at the oncoming aliens.

Alien shrieks and roars mixed with gunfire echo through the jungle, and acid blood splashes onto trees and foliage, melting them away. 

Soifon opens fire on a couple of aliens with her flamethrower, pushing them back far enough for Mila Rose to fire at them with her smartgun.

“Now, Mila Rose!” Soifon shouts.

 _“¡Que te den, puta madre!”_ Mila Rose snarls, firing two rounds at the aliens.

“Watch out for the blood, don’t let it splash you!” Renji shouts as they hastily make a run for it while shooting at the pursuing aliens.

He notices Soifon using the flamethrower, and his eyes widen slightly as he looks at the surrounding forest. Flames are starting to catch onto the foliage and surrounding plants.

“Soifon, don’t use that too much! You’re gonna burn the whole fucking forest down!” Renji shouts at her.

“You got any better ideas, genius?!” Soifon shouts back, now firing her pulse rifle at some aliens, who shriek in rage as they’re destroyed. “Yeah, that’s right! Fuck outta here, you sons of bitches!”

“Use a grenade, man!” Mila Rose snaps.

“Let’s get the fuck outta here! Now!” Renji shouts urgently. “Captain, how much further?!”

“We’re nearly there!” Shihouin shouts over her pulse rifle fire. “There’s a clearing up ahead!”

“Zaraki, do you read me?! We’re nearly there, but we got aliens and a forest fire on our tail!” Sasakibe yells into his mic.

 _“Yeah, we can see you guys! Hurry up!”_ Zaraki barks.

They run faster towards the clearing, and to Renji’s sheer relief, he can see the APC by the refinery warehouse. Standing right near it are Zaraki and Bazz-B, the both of them on the defensive with their pulse rifles and flamethrowers in hand, and Renji finds himself running faster.

However, the aliens seem to be trying to catch up to them, no matter how much they fire at them. 

Suddenly, one of them just clambers over the trees and jumps in front of their path.

“Oh, fuck me…” Shihouin snarls, opening fire on it just as it lunges towards her. “Eat this, motherfucker!”

The alien shrieks as it’s destroyed, and they continue towards the clearing and to the APC.

“Sarge! We’re here!” Renji shouts as they run up to them. “We got aliens on our tail!”

“I heard!” Zaraki shouts. “Get behind me, now! Black, you take care of the aliens!”

“Yes, sir!” Bazz-B rushes towards the aliens with his flamethrower. Aiming it at them, he pulls the trigger, shooting a jet of fire at them. “Why not come back here and suck on it, huh?! That’s right, run, motherfuckers!”

The creatures shriek and hiss, right before Mila Rose opens fire on them. With a few short bursts, they’re destroyed into smouldering remains.

Panting heavily to catch his breath, Renji smiles weakly at Bazz-B and Mila Rose. “Nice one,” he praises.

Bazz-B smirks. “Anytime, anywhere,” he says.

“Alright, enough,” Zaraki orders. “We also got aliens to deal with, and some civvies to evacuate here. Some of the refinery personnel are trapped inside the warehouse, but they can’t get out ‘cause of the aliens. Captain Halibel is trying to get them evacuated, and our job is to kill off these aliens so the civilians can be safely evacuated.”

Renji nods. “Alright,” he says. “So what’s the plan?”

“Abarai, Black, and Captain Shihouin, you’ll be helpin’ my team with killin’ the creatures,” Zaraki tells them. “Mila Rose, Soifon, and Lieutenant Sasakibe, you’ll be helpin’ Captain Halibel with getting those civilians outta there. They’re waiting at the back entrance, so hurry.”

“Affirmative,” Sasakibe says, turning to Mila Rose and Soifon. “Come on, let’s go.”

With that, the three of them jog ahead with their weapons. As they leave, Renji follows Zaraki, Shihouin, and Bazz-B further within the refinery.

The sounds of gunfire, flamethrowers, and alien shrieks become louder when they get closer, and Renji readies his pulse rifle as he tenses up. 

He only has time for a quick observation before Zaraki barks at him and Bazz-B to get out there and help, but as he runs over to his squad, he can’t help but notice how this place has quickly become a living hell.

Already, there are a lot of aliens over here. They’re clambering quickly over large pipes and machinery, trying to get to the soldiers and Marines firing at them. Worse, Renji sees several bodies lying about; some have holes in their faces, some brutally eviscerated through their stomachs, and others with flesh melted and partially dissolved from acid.

A man screams as he stares down at his chest, a stinger protruding from it. All Renji can do is watch helplessly as the stinger slowly slides back out of the soldier’s body, and the soldier slumps to the ground. Blood pools beneath him and soaks through his uniform.

Nearby, a female Marine’s screams are cut short right as the creature’s inner jaw shoots out and pierces her skull. Blood and brain matter fly and splatter the surroundings as the Marine collapses to the ground.

Renji’s stomach clenches, and he just closes his eyes before turning away. “God…” he whispers, his voice heavy.

Just then, one of the aliens notices Renji, Zaraki, Shihouin, and Bazz-B, and hisses at them. Thick, viscous saliva spills from its leering mouth as it shows off its inner jaw, but Renji has no time to be intimidated by it.

Right as the alien rushes towards him, Renji opens fire on it. “Eat this!” he snarls.

The alien shrieks as it’s destroyed. Acid blood splatters onto the ground and machinery, dissolving through them as if they’re nothing.

“Fucking hell…” Bazz-B snarls.

Renji does a quick survey of the area, and notices Madarame and Iba with some Verdean soldiers trying to fight off some very aggressive aliens.

“Looks like they need our help,” Renji points out. “Let’s go!”

“On it!”

They rush over to the group, and Shihouin fires at some of the advancing aliens. As they’re destroyed in a shower of acid blood, Madarame and Iba look surprised for a moment, and look in Renji, Shihouin, Zaraki, and Bazz-B’s direction.

“Abarai!” Madarame shouts, looking so relieved. “You’re back!”

“Damn right I am,” Renji says, smiling briefly.

“Thanks for the help, Captain!” Iba says, his voice raised, before he fires his VP78 pistol at an oncoming creature.

With three short bursts, it’s destroyed.

Bazz-B shoots a jet of fire from the flamethrower at the creatures, pushing them back. “That’s right, get away from us, assholes!” he taunts.

When the flames die down, Renji, Shihouin, Zaraki, Madarame, and Iba then open fire on the creatures, destroying them with a few rounds of pulse rifle and pistol ammo.

As Zaraki and Shihouin move on to help another group of Marines, Madarame glances back at Renji. “Is it true that Hisagi’s down?” he asks.

Renji nods. “He took a bullet to the shoulder and had to be airlifted to the field hospital,” he explains as they take cover behind some large pipes. “We encountered Major Tousen’s killer, and he’s the one who put the bullet through Hisagi’s shoulder.”

“Fuck…” Iba curses, looking dismayed.

“How many creatures are here?” Renji asks, reloading his rifle.

“A lot,” Madarame tells him. “We don’t even know how they got here. But some of the personnel are already dead, so we’re trying to get the rest of ‘em outta here.”

“And how many people are dead now?” Bazz-B asks.

“Dunno,” Iba says darkly. “They’ve been draggin’ some of ‘em up the vents to who the fuck knows where. And those who don’t get taken away get killed by their tails, inner jaws, or acid blood.”

“Too bad Hisagi isn’t here,” Madarame mutters as he unloads and reloads his rifle. “We could’ve used the extra hands.”

Standing up, he fires some rounds at an oncoming alien, destroying it in a shower of acid.

“That shit’s even worse than their tails or inner jaws, honestly,” Madarame tells them. “Some of ‘em got killed when they were too close to the fuckers. Got showered in acid and died.”

“Don’t I know it,” Renji says darkly.

“How the fuck are we supposed to die with honour if this is how these fuckers kill people?!” Bazz-B demands as he shoots at an alien.

Renji can’t really answer that question, but it doesn’t matter now. Swallowing slightly, he fires away at more oncoming creatures, feeling a grim satisfaction at their death shrieks.

He tries to ignore the screams of the unfortunate soldiers and Marines getting killed, but it’s a lot easier said than done. Renji's done a bit of combat in the past; he knows how to handle himself and how to lead the other Marines in fighting. But those were human enemies, who are much easier to handle, and the few aggressive extraterrestrial creatures he's had to fight were simply small fry. Combat has never been an easy thing, but combat against these heartless, sadistic Xenomorphs? Well… it’s just way too fucked up.

Bazz-B is right. There’s no honour in dying from these creatures. It’s either a headbite through the skull, impalement through your abdomen, or getting splattered by acid blood. And if it’s not any of those, you get taken away, cocooned in a nest, and turned into a host for more of them.

There’s nothing honourable in _any_ of those deaths.

Clenching his teeth, Renji continues to open fire, now filled with that same burning anger.

He’s gonna kill every last one of these fuckers, even if his heart is consumed by darkness. Even if it means giving up his humanity. Even if it means giving up his life. He may have promised Orihime that he won't die, but if it gets to that, then Renji will gladly give up his life to destroy these things once and for all.

Right then, Sasakibe’s voice comes through all the Gotei Marines’ earpieces, while Halibel’s voice comes through all the Verdean soldiers’ earpieces.

 _“This is Sasakibe! Can you all read me?! We’ve just finished evacuated the civilians, now we need you to fall back! Get out of here and make sure none of the aliens escape! We’re gonna seal them in and blow up this place! We’re waiting outside for you now!”_ Sasakibe orders urgently.

“You heard the man, everyone! Let’s get outta here!” Shihouin shouts.

“Come on, sweethearts!” Zaraki barks. “Let’s go!”

As some Verdean sergeants and officers shout the same things at the soldiers in Spanish, Renji, Bazz-B, Madarame, and Iba quickly head to the exit, shooting at the creatures that are in pursuit.

Renji reaches the exit first, but instead of running out, he holds the door open. “Come on, go! Get outta here, move it!” he shouts, rushing Bazz-B, Madarame, and Iba outside.

As more soldiers and Marines rush to the exit, he continues shouting at them to leave, all while shooting at some more aliens in pursuit.

To his horror, a few soldiers and Marines are caught by the creatures. Some of them are dragged up into the vents, some impaled by the creatures’ stingers, and others receiving a headbite right through their brains.

“Go! Keep moving, get the fuck outta here! Now!” Renji shouts urgently, making the horror-struck soldiers run faster.

Finally, _finally,_ Zaraki, Shihouin, and the last of the soldiers and Marines escape outside.

“Come on, Abarai! Let’s go!” Zaraki shouts.

Renji shoots the creatures that are closest to the entrance. Then, he glares at the incoming horde, aiming his rifle at them.

“Go to hell, you fuckers.” 

He fires five grenades from the grenade launcher right in the aliens’ path.

Quickly slamming the door shut, Renji bolts for it, running as fast as he can towards the others.

As he lunges out of the way, there’s a loud boom from behind, and he’s flung forward as heat passes over him. And right then, he swears his heart actually stops for a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, chapter 5 is finished. I quite enjoyed writing this chapter, especially while playing that piece of music. Plus, bringing out Renji's badass nature here was a lot of fun.
> 
> Also, I'll be leaving on a trip soon, so I might not have many chances to update as frequently. I'll do my best to update when I can, so please be patient.
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!


	6. Honourable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The evacuation of civilians is almost complete, and only three more remain. Renji and Bazz-B assist Captain Halibel, Captain Shihouin, and Lieutenant Sasakibe in retrieving them from a Xenomorph-infested apartment building, all while theorizing about the nature of the Xenomorphs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay in this chapter. I've been busy on this trip, but I've finally managed to find time to get this chapter out, and so here it is! I've put in some major shout-outs to _Aliens_ for this chapter, as well as a little bit of Yoruichi's perspective, so I hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Trigger warning for some character death.

As the adrenaline slowly wears off, Renji starts to register his surroundings while steadily getting back up. His body is already sore and his ears are still ringing from the explosion. He feels a small trickle of blood sliding down his cheek, and as he dusts himself off, he notices some more small cuts on his arms and hands.

That’s when Renji hears the crackling of fire from behind him, and he turns around to see the sight for himself.

The warehouse is now an inferno, hopefully burning up all those creatures inside there. That’s when he also notices several soldiers trying to put out the fire in the nearby forest and trying to prevent it from spreading to the oil refinery, though it’s more manageable than he’d thought it would be. As for the warehouse… well, there’s no hope of saving it. All Renji can do right now is hope that he’s spared those soldiers from a horrible fate.

“Abarai!” Zaraki’s booming voice interrupts his thoughts.

Renji turns and sees Zaraki and Soifon rushing over to him, and he can’t help but smile slightly at them. “Hey,” he says, sounding a little bit sheepish.

“Fucking hell, Abarai! You alright?!” Zaraki demands while Soifon does a check-up on Renji’s minor injuries. “You could’ve died back there, goddammit!”

“I’m fine,” Renji reassures him, wincing slightly as Soifon disinfects the cuts on his arms. “Just a bit sore, but I’ll be fine.”

“Don’t do that ever again, you hear me?!” Soifon scolds him while applying a bandage around his forearm. “Didn’t I tell you to not put yourself in danger all the time?!”

Her angry scolding just makes Renji’s ears ring further, and he tries to reassure her. “Yeah, but I couldn’t let those things come after us,” he says.

“But don't do it again, understood?” Zaraki orders, sounding only somewhat stern.

Renji smirks slightly. “I make no promises,” he says in a half-joking way.

As they head back to the others, Renji looks up at the sky and notices that the sun is already beginning to set. The sky looks like it’s on fire, which is oddly fitting, considering the situation they’re in right now. It’s both beautiful yet somber, and oddly foreboding.

Renji notices all the personnel from the refinery climbing into an APC to be evacuated. But when they get closer, that’s when they see one of the workers rushing to Halibel and begging her desperately for something. While they can’t hear what he’s saying, they see Halibel frown and nod before telling something to the man, presumably to get into the APC. Halibel then says something to Shihouin, who nods grimly.

After the man gets inside the APC and it drives off into Kira and Yadomaru's dropship, Shihouin calls for all Gotei Marines to listen to her.

“According to General González and Colonel Ruíz, we’re just about done with evacuating all civilians,” she announces. “However, there’s one last place we need to evacuate: the San Basilio Apartments. It’s located in the industrial area, and it’s been overrun by the Xenomorphs. Most of the civilians in that building have been evacuated, but there are still some trapped in there. Even more, some of the combat androids have laid claim to the building, so we need to destroy the androids, kill the Xenomorphs, and get those civilians out of there.”

“How many?” Renji asks, trying to stay calm.

“Three. There’s one woman and two children,” Shihouin says.

Renji’s stomach clenches.

Children. There are children in that building, and now they’re at the mercy of the aliens.

“I’ll be going in to retrieve the civilians,” Halibel adds. “Everyone else will take care of the androids and any Xenomorph that escapes that building.”

“With all due respect, Captain,” Renji chimes in, “you can’t do that alone. It’s too dangerous. Let me come with you.”

His voice is firm, his mind is made up, and Renji can see that they all know they can’t argue with him.

Halibel can’t help but smile faintly. “Very well, Corporal,” she agrees. “You may accompany me.”

“Then Sasakibe and I will come with you,” Shihouin decides, just as Sasakibe approaches them. “After all, there’s no way we’re gonna let one of our own die either.”

“And I’m comin’ too,” Bazz-B suddenly declares, much to Renji’s surprise.

“Bazz?” Renji asks, watching as he steps forward.

Bazz-B’s eyes are determined. “Ever since you joined our unit, you’ve been puttin’ yourself in danger for our sakes, Abarai. And I think it’s time I repaid you on behalf of the others,” he tells him.

Renji is speechless for a moment, not sure what to say to Bazz-B’s touching words. Eventually, a sincere smile crosses his face. “Thanks, Bazz,” he says. 

“Well, would you look at that?” Mila Rose says, raising an eyebrow. “Sounds like you’ve grown some balls, Bazz.”

“Never woulda thought I’d see this day either,” Muguruma adds.

Bazz-B doesn’t snap or flip them off, oddly enough. He just smirks slightly. “I guess it did take a while, but I’m doin’ this for you guys too!” he says.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Renji orders, his voice firm. “Now then, let’s get those civilians out of there.”

“The APCs are all ready to go,” Zaraki tells them. “So climb inside and get movin’.”

With that, they climb into one of the waiting APCs. Once everyone’s inside, the doors slide shut, and they start driving to the position, hidden away from the apartment complex in question, where a Major Katia Morales is waiting for them. 

The drive is silent for the most part, except for Halibel speaking in Spanish over her radio to Morales. Her voice is serious, and while Renji doesn’t understand what she’s saying, it’s definitely about something pretty big.

When Halibel disconnects from Morales, she turns to everyone. “I just spoke with Major Morales about the situation,” she says. “She told me that they did a life-detecting sweep on the apartment building to count how many Xenomorphs are there.”

“How many are there?” Shihouin asks her.

“She can’t get an exact number, there’s far too many,” Halibel responds gravely.

Renji frowns. How many of those creatures are there in the first place? In fact, how did so many of them even come to be?

“Captain, if I may ask… how many eggs were originally delivered to the garrison?” Renji asks, getting everyone’s attention.

Halibel pauses and frowns in thought. “I think about… twenty eggs,” she guesses. “There were probably more, though. Between Grindina and the fallout after that, I don’t really remember.”

“But there’s obviously a lot more than twenty eggs,” Sasakibe says. “Considering the amount of aliens we’ve already gone up against, there’s more than that.”

He’s right, Renji realizes.

Again, that strange-looking Facehugger comes back to mind. Well, he might as well bring it up now.

“Remember when we saw those photos of the Facehugger that… impregnated Grindina?” he asks. “Did anyone notice that it looked kinda different?”

Shihouin raises an eyebrow. “Now that I think about it, you’re right, Corporal,” she agrees. “It did look bigger.”

“What does that mean?” Halibel asks, a frown on her face.

“The usual Facehugger is smaller and more pale in colour,” Renji points out. “The one that got to Grindina was darker, bigger, and looked more like a scorpion or something like that. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Not on Iwashiro, and not on LV-325.”

“You think it creates a different kind of alien?” Mila Rose asks. “Something bigger than what we’re up against right now?”

“God, I hope not,” Madarame says. “These things are already bad enough, and there better not be anything more.”

Bazz-B looks thoughtful. “Maybe… Maybe it’s like an ant hive,” he suggests.

“Bees, man, bees have hives,” Mila Rose corrects him.

“You know what I mean!” Bazz-B retorts. “There’s like, that one female that runs the whole show.”

“Yes, a queen,” Soifon says.

Renji’s eyes widen slightly.

“Yeah, the mama,” Bazz-B agrees. “She’s badass, man. Like, real big.” He makes a comparison with his thumb and index finger.

“These things ain’t ants, _pendejo,”_ Mila Rose tells him.

“I know that, man,” Bazz-B snaps back.

Ignoring their banter, Renji ponders over Bazz-B’s theory. Now that he thinks about it, it’s probably not a stretch to suggest that these things are like insects of some sort.

Which means that the aliens they’re up against are basically the warriors and workers that defend and feed the queen. If it exists, that is.

Fuck… if a queen bee or a queen ant is bigger than regular bees and ants, then Renji does _not_ want to imagine how big a Xenomorph queen would be.

His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of the APC stopping. “We’re here,” Shihouin announces. “Gear up, people! And look sharp!”

Renji gets up and gets his gear ready just as the doors slide open. Immediately, he gets out along with the others and they make their way over to a stern-looking woman-- Major Morales, without a doubt-- and the Marines and soldiers waiting for them.

“What’s the situation, Major?” Shihouin asks her.

“We got about twenty combat droids guarding that building,” Morales tells them. “And about twenty Xenomorphs inside the building. And the family in question is up on the third floor. They sealed themselves in one of the apartment rooms, and have somehow managed to survive the creatures.”

“How did that family end up trapped in there?” Zaraki asks.

“During the evacuation procedures, the woman’s children got lost and so she rushed back inside to find them,” Morales explains. “As it turns out, the children were hiding, but by then, the creatures had already gotten into the building, forcing them to hole up in there. We were only told that they were alive thanks to her neighbour getting a call from her.”

“How long do we have to get them?” Sasakibe asks.

“An hour. No more, no less. Once the hour is up, the air force will drop a bomb on the building,” Morales says firmly. “I’ll launch a surprise attack on the combat androids. Halibel, you and your team will take the evacuation vent shaft on the left side of the building to get to the family. Understood?”

“Yes, Major,” Halibel says. Turning to look at Renji, Bazz-B, Shihouin, and Sasakibe, she adds, “let’s go”.

With a nod, Renji follows Halibel and leads the others into the jungle foliage as they wait for their cue and survey the scene before them.

The combat androids patrol the apartment complex, their guns at the ready as they scan their surroundings. Honestly, considering just how advanced and accurate those guys are, it’s a miracle they haven’t been spotted yet.

Renji and the others maneuver to the side of the building where the evacuation vent shaft is located, and stay hidden while waiting for their cue.

 _“Launching the attack in three… two… one.”_ Morales announces through their headsets.

Right then, guns start firing at the androids, who promptly respond to the attack by firing back.

“Now! Come on, let’s go!” Halibel orders.

Quickly, they rush towards the evacuation vent shaft, trying not to draw the androids’ attention onto them in the process. The sound of gunfire rings through Renji’s ears as he stands guard with an eye on his motion tracker and his pulse rifle at the ready, all while Bazz-B runs a bypass through the lock on the vent.

It takes a few moments, but it’s done. Pressing a button on the side of the dilating entrance, Bazz-B puts his technician kit away and stands up. “There, it’s open,” he says.

Halibel gets into the shaft first, followed by Shihouin and Sasakibe. Renji goes next, and Bazz-B climbs in after him.

When the vent entrance spirals shut, Renji glances back down at his motion tracker to make sure nothing is coming after them. Though the display shows nothing, he still keeps his ears out for any other noises as he follows Halibel, Shihouin, and Sasakibe through the shaft.

First, they make their way to a clearing, where a ladder is waiting. After they all climb up the ladder into another shaft, they continue on their way to where the family is supposed to be.

“How much further do we have to go?” Bazz-B asks after some time.

Halibel glances down at the grating beneath her. “Four more rooms,” she says.

As they continue climbing through the vent shaft, Renji can’t help but recall crawling through a vent shaft to try and get to a very frightened, very traumatized Orihime. He smiles inwardly as he remembers how she’d bitten his hand and tried to flee from them.

To think that LV-352 was only a few months ago… it feels like a lifetime already.

Renji sighs softly to himself. Shaking his head slightly, he reminds himself to focus on the task at hand: getting these last three civilians out alive.

It takes a little bit longer, but they’re almost there. Before long, Halibel pauses, peering through a grille. “We’re here,” she says, getting out her hand welder. “I’ll open this up, and then we’ll go and find them.”

She flips up the protective screen and cuts through the panel before climbing out into the apartment kitchen. Renji follows Sasakibe and Shihouin out, and then Bazz-B clambers out afterwards.

That’s when Renji notices how dark it is. Flicking on his shoulder lamp, he looks around at his surroundings.

It’s quite impressive.

Every door, every vent opening, every window, all of them have been barricaded with metal plates, and the welding done on them doesn’t look crude at all. “They must’ve been really prepared,” he observes aloud.

“Impressive,” Sasakibe also murmurs.

Suddenly, they’re startled by a loud beep from the motion trackers.

Glancing down at his display, Renji notice a signal coming towards them.

“It’s headin’ right towards us,” Shihouin says.

Right then, footsteps come down from the corridor near the kitchen, and Renji turns to face that direction.

“This way,” he says.

Bazz-B and Halibel prepare their guns as the signal gets closer and closer. Renji also prepares to raise his pulse rifle to begin firing as Sasakibe shines his flashlight in the direction of the corridor. In that moment, everyone expects to be met with an eyeless face, and a drooling, snarling mouth.

But instead of a Xenomorph, the light lands on a Verdean woman aiming a shotgun at them.

Relief washes over Renji, and he lowers his pulse rifle. Likewise, Bazz-B and Halibel lower their rifles. However, the woman still holds her shotgun at them. Her eyes are hard, and for a moment, Renji wonders just what kind of horrors she’s seen. 

Halibel speaks in Spanish to the woman, her voice soothing and gentle. 

 _“Mantén la calma, señora,”_ Halibel reassures her. _“Me llama Capitana Halibel. Estamos aquí para ayudarle.”_

While he doesn’t understand what she’s saying, Renji’s able to get the gist of it. Then, the woman slowly lowers the shotgun, her eyes softening slightly. 

 _“¿Cómo te llamas?”_ Halibel asks, and Renji quickly recognizes that one basic phrase as "What's your name?".

 _“Cecilia Pérez,”_ the woman answers.

Glancing back at Renji and the others, Halibel translates. “Her name is Cecilia Pérez,” she says.

Remembering that there are children here, Renji glances over at Halibel. “Can you ask her where her children are?”

Halibel nods. _“¿Dónde están sus hijos?”_

Before Cecilia can answer, they hear two sets of smaller footsteps. _“¿Mama?”_ A little girl’s voice asks.

Renji’s heart nearly stops when two small children emerge from the shadows, both of them looking curious yet scared.

The boy can’t be any older than eight, and the girl looks to be about six years old. They both hold onto each other as they stare at Renji and the other officers.

Renji just offers a small smile at the kids when suddenly, a telltale alien screech echoes from outside the apartment.

Tensing up, Renji glances down at his motion tracker display, only to see nothing.

“Nothing’s here… yet,” he says.

Nodding slightly, Shihouin taps her earpiece. “Major Morales, this is Shihouin,” she says. “We’ve retrieved the civilians, and we’re ready to head back now.”

 _“We’re taking heavy fire here, Captain!”_ Morales responds, her voice urgent. _“Wait for our signal and then start heading back!”_

“How much longer do we have until the air force arrives?” Sasakibe asks.

 _“Thirty-five minutes, but we’ll be finishing with the androids in less than fifteen!”_ Morales tells them.

“Yes, ma’am. Shihouin out.”

Shihouin disconnects her earpiece, and sighs slightly. “We gotta wait a bit,” she says. “We’ll leave once we get our signal.”

And so they wait for what feels like an eternity. After a while of spending time with the kids (whose names are Ricardo and Renata), Renji glances at the clock to see how much time has passed, and is surprised to see that only ten minutes have gone by.

Hopefully they’re all done with those androids.

Right then, as if on cue, Morales’s voice comes through their headsets.

 _“Alright, we’ve destroyed the androids!”_ Morales announces. _“Come now! We’ll be waiting for you!”_

 _Finally._ Renji gets up from the floor. “Alright, let’s get going,” he says to Bazz-B.

“Finally!” Bazz-B sighs in relief.

“Let the civilians go through first,” Halibel says while coaxing Cecilia and her children to the vent shaft.

But just as the civilians climb into the shaft, Renji’s motion tracker starts beeping steadily.

 _What the-?_ Renji looks down at the screen and his face pales. 

Likewise, Bazz-B’s face also pales. “Fuck…” he curses. “They’re right on the other side of the door.”

Sure enough, the sounds of multiple aliens screeching draws closer and closer towards the apartment.

“Get out! Now!” Renji shouts, right as the barricaded door tears open.

A horde of nightmarish silhouettes spill into the room, screeching and snarling as they rush towards their direction.

Renji and Bazz-B open fire on the creatures with their pulse rifle and flamethrower, filling the room with smoke and sending spurts of fire everywhere. It’s all smoke and fire and alien hides as mirrors as gunfire and alien shrieks and roars mix together, creating a hideous cacophony that makes it almost impossible to hear one another.

“Abarai! Black! Get your asses over here now!” Shihouin shouts over the noise, snapping them back into reality.

Quickly, the two of them take off, sprinting to the vent shaft entrance. Bazz-B climbs in first, followed by Halibel, and then Renji follows. 

Right behind him, he hears Shihouin fire a grenade at some of the Xenomorphs, and their death shrieks echo as the grenade goes off.

Then, Sasakibe and Shihouin climb in after Renji, providing cover from the pursuing aliens.

 _“You guys on your way yet?!”_ Zaraki demands through their earpieces.

“Yeah, but we got Xenomorphs on our tails!” Renji shouts.

He hears the creatures screeching right after them, their roars echoing through the vent shaft. It’s immediately followed by the sound of pulse rifle fire from Shihouin and immediate death shrieks.

“Keep on going!” Halibel shouts back at them. “Come on!”

The vents are like a maze, and the red emergency lights aren’t doing anything to help at all. Renji has his pulse rifle at the ready as he looks around for any more Xenomorphs that may be coming from the other passageways.

Suddenly, one of the grates bust open from a passageway on the left, and a Xenomorph climbs into the shaft, snarling at Renji.

But Renji’s much faster, and he swiftly opens fire on the creature. “Eat this!” he shouts over the alien’s shrieks before he continues running.

Up ahead, he hears Bazz-B cursing at another alien as he shoots at it, its shrieks echoing through the shaft.

“We’re almost there!” Halibel shouts from ahead. “Hurry!”

“Abarai, come on!” Bazz-B shouts as Renji rushes to catch up. 

A quick glance back and Renji sees Sasakibe catching up with him, and Shihouin ditching her empty pulse rifle in favour of her VP78 pistol.

Suddenly, an alien clambers down from the shaft above, almost landing right on top of Shihouin. She struggles against the creature, trying to get it off her while avoiding its flailing limbs, all while firing her pistol, but after some effort, she succeeds.

Once she’s wrestled it into submission, Shihouin pins the alien against the wall with her foot, and with a yell, she swiftly fires her pistol at it point blank. Four shots ring out through the vent shaft, along with alien shrieks. 

But then they’re followed by a pained cry from Shihouin as acid blood sprays out from the alien and splashes onto her legs.

Renji nearly stops in his tracks when he hears Shihouin crying out in pain. He then hears the sound of her trying to scramble after them as she continues shooting at the creature.

Rounding a corner, Renji stops in his tracks as Sasakibe catches up to him. But Shihouin fails to catch up with them.

“Captain!” Renji shouts.

The only response he gets are strained grunts.

Before Renji can do anything, Sasakibe acts quickly. “Go!” he barks, clapping Renji’s shoulder before he turns to rush back to Shihouin.

Instantly recognizing an order from his superior, Renji rushes ahead.

By making him go ahead, Renji’s now been put in charge of making sure the others get out alive.

And he’ll be damned if he lets Lieutenant Sasakibe down.

* * *

It burns, it hurts so fucking much, it’s beyond anything she’s felt before. And she’s felt explosions, bullets, grenades, and bombs, so that’s fucking saying something. Her ears ring from all the gunfire in the enclosed vents and she can’t even feel anything beyond the burning agony.

Shihouin can feel the acid searing through the skin on her legs, and after kicking away the Xenomorph’s carcass, she can’t move anymore. Dropping the empty magazine out of her pistol, she slumps down onto the floor, gritting her teeth against the white-hot pain, unable to even crawl forward.

“Fuck… oh no…!” she cries out; whether it’s out of frustration or pain, she can’t even tell.

Right then, a pair of strong arms hook beneath her underarms, raising her up slightly from the ground. Glancing back, Shihouin is surprised to see Sasakibe holding her, his eyes filled with determination.

“I got you, Captain,” he tells her, trying to carry her to safety.

Shihouin smiles weakly in spite of the agonizing pain. “You fool… you shouldn’t have,” she tells him with no real malice in her voice. 

Suddenly, there’s a loud bang on the grille ahead of them, and Sasakibe stops in his tracks. Shihouin looks at the grille just in time to see it bend outwards, and then bust open as a Xenomorph emerges into the shaft, snarling at them.

Sasakibe acts quickly, firing his pistol with one arm at the snarling creature. The bullets don’t do much to damage it, but he’s persistent.

As it advances towards them, Sasakibe continues to pull the trigger until suddenly, there’s a click.

He’s all out. All he can do now is just drop the pistol onto the floor.

A snarl from their right side has them turn to see another advancing Xenomorph, clawing past the other carcass in their direction. If they're lucky, these things may kill them outright, or the air force will bomb the building before these things can cocoon them.

Right then, without even flinching, Sasakibe pulls an M40 grenade from his pocket, flipping the cap open as he holds Shihouin tightly.

With a strained smile, Shihouin glances back at him. “It was nice knowing you… Chojiro,” she says hoarsely.

Sasakibe nods, holding the grenade out in front of them. “It’s been an honour serving you too, Captain.”

He presses down on the button, gripping it tightly in his trembling hand. 

_Five._

Shihouin reaches out and grasps it with both hands.

_Four._

Sasakibe puts his free hand over hers.

_Three._

A black, beastly silhouette reaches her peripheral vision.

_Two._

A three-fingered skeletal hand brushes against her leg, and her grip almost slips. Almost.

_One._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Yoruichi and Sasakibe's deaths are a shout-out to Vasquez and Gorman's death scene in _Aliens_. Honestly, their death scene is the most badass one in the entire franchise (and so is Hudson's), so I knew I had to include it in this series. And plus, the Marines of the Gotei are all samurai at heart, so if they must, they will die with honour, rather than suffer a horrific fate at the hands of the Xenomorphs.
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!


	7. Demon's Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renji and his unit reunite with General Kuchiki as they receive information from a Weyland-Yutani defector on how to weaken the PMC army.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 7. I'm hoping that I can get back to my regular schedule of writing again, but for now, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Note: I made an edit to this story, particularly Chapter 4. Instead of this being the second day of war, the events of this story are now on the third day of this war.

Just as Renji climbs down the ladder to get out of the vent shaft, he sees a fairly large explosion from Sasakibe and Shihouin’s direction. He can even feel the heat all the way over here, and there’s no doubting the source of the explosion.

Biting his lower lip, Renji pauses mid-climb and grimly holds his hand up in a salute. But he only holds it for a brief second before continuing his climb downwards until he reaches the bottom. He then hurries towards the exit and climbs out, quickly rushing back over to Bazz-B, Halibel, Zaraki, and the rest of the squad.

At first, Bazz-B, Halibel, and Zaraki are relieved to see him alive. Then their expressions become curious as to where Sasakibe and Shihouin are, but Renji simply regards them somberly. They instantly understand what his expression means.

“You mean they’re…?” Bazz-B trails off.

Soifon’s eyes widen in horror, and Renji feels awful upon seeing that. He remembers that Soifon has always looked up to Captain Shihouin, and he hates to be the one to have to break the bad news to her and the others. But he has no choice.

“I can assure you they died with honour,” Renji says, his voice firm. “I saw an explosion from where they were, which means they didn’t have to suffer a horrible fate at the hands of the aliens.”

He looks down, avoiding Soifon’s shocked expression. “I’m… I’m sorry,” he says sincerely.

“Don’t blame yourself, Abarai,” Zaraki tells him firmly. “Like you said, Lieutenant Sasakibe and Captain Shihouin died with honour. They gave up their lives to ensure that you, Black, Captain Halibel, and those civilians could get to safety. Now, it’s important that we honour their sacrifice and keep on moving forward.”

Renji nods. “You’re right, Sarge,” he agrees. “We gotta keep moving.”

“Exactly.” Right then, Major Morales shows up, along with some more soldiers. Along with her is an APC for them. “The Verdean Air Force is about to bomb the building, and they’re coming to pick us up in a dropship soon, so get ready.”

“And the civilians?” Halibel asks her.

“The civilians have already been evacuated,” Morales tells them. “Sergeant Zaraki, your job is to get your unit to the frontline and assist in combat against the androids and Xenomorphs up there. Commodore Ayala will be coming to collect you in the dropship, and once you’re all inside, he’ll bomb the apartment building and transport you to the frontline.”

Right then, as if on cue, Kira and Yadomaru's dropship shows up and steadily lowers itself to a hover before the hatch door lowers open. Waiting inside is Commodore Javier Ayala.

“Get inside now! We’ll be taking off and bombing the building in a few minutes, so hurry!” he orders.

“Alright, you heard the man, let’s move!” Zaraki orders, getting everyone inside the APC.

Renji, Halibel, Morales, and Zaraki lead the way, and once they’re inside, they help the rest of the unit into the APC. Once Akon, Madarame, Iba, and Ayala are inside, the APC drives up into the dropship. The hatch closes behind them and the dropship lifts off, flying higher and higher until it is above the infested apartment building. 

Ayala speaks through his radio to the pilot in Spanish, perhaps giving orders to drop the bomb, Renji assumes. A few minutes later, he hears the sound of a bomb being deployed, followed by a loud explosion from beneath.

After receiving what sounds like a confirmation, Ayala then gives an order through the radio. He then glances at Zaraki. “The apartment building has been destroyed,” he tells him. “We’ll be heading to the frontline now.”

As the dropship begins its flight, Renji pulls out his canteen and takes a drink from it. He hasn’t even realized how thirsty he is until now, but he makes sure not to drink too much water. It’s always important to ration it out in combat, especially for longer periods.

And that's when he notices the time on digital clock display in the dropship. It reads the time as 23:44.

To think that the third day of combat is already nearly over… how long has this war been going on for already? Has it really been only three days, or has it been a bit longer before they entered?

“What’s the situation like at the frontline?” Zaraki asks.

“According to General González and General Tristan, the Company has gotten ahold of an anti-aircraft battery to try and down our aircraft,” Morales explains. “We need to be prudent when getting there.”

“I also got a message from Colonel Schaeffer. He said that General Kuchiki’s team received a defector from Weyland-Yutani,” Halibel adds, to everyone’s surprise. “The man spilled the details as to who ordered the shipment of Xenomorph eggs to Santa Barbára.”

Renji snaps to attention at that. There’s a defector from Weyland-Yutani?

“A defector?” Renji repeats.

“Yes,” Halibel says. “And he’s not the only one either. General González and General Tristan have also received a few defectors from Weyland-Yutani at their positions.”

If Company PMCs are defecting, then it means that they’re finally become aware of their employers’ bullshit. Or maybe it’s because they don’t want to get killed by Xenomorphs. Renji doesn’t really know what their motives might be, but either way, this is a good thing, he supposes.

“Looks like they’re finally wakin’ up to all the bullshit they’ve been fed,” Mila Rose suggests.

“Don’t get your hopes up yet, Mila Rose,” Soifon warns. “They could be doing it for selfish reasons too.”

“Who ordered the eggs, Captain?” Renji asks Halibel.

“Does the name ‘Tsunayashiro Tokinada’ ring any bells with you?” Halibel asks.

At that name, Renji’s eyes widen slightly. 

Oh, that name definitely rings a few bells, alright. “Yeah, it does, actually.”

“Tsunayashiro Tokinada?” Zaraki repeats, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, I’ve heard of him, alright.”

“Who hasn’t?” Muguruma tells him. “I heard a lot of stories ‘bout that bastard.”

Iba nods. “The guy has a lotta Yakuza connections, I heard,” he adds. “Back when I was with the military police, we were workin’ a case involving a former WeYu employee who was found dead in his apartment in what was supposed to look like a suicide. When we investigated further, we found that the guy had evidence of Tsunayashiro’s shady dealings, so Tsunayashiro simply had him murdered and then framed the crime scene as a suicide.”

“As it turns out, this man had been working with Szayel Aporro Granz,” Halibel explains. “He ordered the shipment of eggs to Hueco; he intentionally chose my city to deliver these eggs because of our location. In addition, he’s also the one who managed to overturn the case against Weyland-Yutani, Granz, and Aizen.”

Renji’s not too surprised to hear about that. He’s more than well-aware that Tsunayashiro Tokinada is not just shady, but is literal scum of the earth. As a high-level executive in the shipment and merchandise department of Weyland-Yutani, he has also used his position to do some pretty unethical stuff: bribery, blackmail, and even sexually harassing young female employees and interns. Hell, according to Hisagi, Tsunayashiro even got off scot-free from the charges of beating his wife to death, simply because of his money. And plus, there are even rumours that he’s the reason why certain Company employees have vanished without a trace.

To hear that he’s responsible for the shipment of Xenomorph eggs to Hueco… it’s not that big of a surprise at this point.

But at the mention of Granz, Renji just feels that ugly black rage burning within him again.

So this Tsunayashiro guy is responsible for the lawsuit against the Company being dropped? At that memory, Renji’s hands tremble slightly, and he clenches them into fists to try and control his anger, to no avail.

If he ever meets this bastard on the frontline, he’s gonna personally kill him. How he’ll kill him, he doesn’t know yet. Besides, blowing his brains out with his shotgun definitely sounds good.

Then again, maybe Halibel might get to Tsunayashiro first. And honestly, Renji won’t be angry if that happens. After all, this is her city, _her country,_ that’s been put in danger because of his greed.

Right then, the dropship starts decreasing in altitude, all while Ayala communicates with the pilot in Spanish. When he finishes, he turns back to Renji and his unit.

“We’re nearing General Kuchiki and Colonel Kyoraku’s position,” Ayala informs them. “Be on your guard; it’s a real shitshow out there.”

“Yes, sir,” Zaraki says.

“Alright, everyone. Gear up and look sharp,” Renji orders, prepping his own weapon as he speaks.

He hears the mechanical whirring of the hatch opening up, and then the rumble of the APC as it drives out of the ship and onto the rough terrain. From outside, Renji hears the distant gunfire, the sound of explosions, and even the screech of missiles.

When the APC stops moving, Renji gets up from his seat, waiting for the door to open up. Once it’s open, he’s quick to get the others moving.

“Go, go, go! Come on, move fast! This is a combat zone, people!” Renji orders as his squadmates rush out of the APC. 

Then he, Zaraki, Morales, and Halibel get out, and they immediately head towards the jungle foliage, where General Kuchiki, Colonel Kyoraku, and their Marines and soldiers are waiting for them.

Taking a quick look at the area, Renji can’t help but agree with Ayala: it really is a shitshow out here.

Night has fallen, and the air is still humid and warm. On the frontline, there are a lot of corpses, both human and Xenomorph, laying about. Smoke rises in the distance, and there’s a lot of shouting, alien shrieks, and gunfire on both sides. Every now and then, there are a few explosions, bringing brief flashes of light in the darkness of night. The stench of death and destruction is heavy in the air, and it’s not a pleasant sight or scent.

In the distance, the Santa Barbára Garrison is lit up like a beacon, the only source of light in the darkness. Briefly, Renji is reminded of how the atmosphere processor at the Hokutan facility was lit up against the alien skyline of LV-352, but he quickly returns to the present. 

“What’s the situation, General?” Zaraki asks.

“These Xenomorphs just keep on coming, almost like a horde,” General Kuchiki says. “It's already midnight and as of now, we’ve lost a good number of our men to those fuckers; either they were killed instantly, or they were taken away back to the garrison. And even more have been injured and had to be removed from combat.”

The General takes a look at Renji and the rest of his unit, and that’s when he notices that Shihouin and Sasakibe aren’t here.

“Where are Captain Shihouin and Lieutenant Sasakibe?” he asks.

“They sacrificed themselves to save us,” Renji explains. “I can assure you, General, that they died with honour.”

For a moment, there is shock in General Kuchiki’s eyes. But he quickly composes himself and nods grimly. “Alright,” he says. “Now then, let’s go over the situation here.”

Once everyone is listening, General Kuchiki continues speaking.

“We’ve come up with a new plan to eliminate all the Xenomorphs,” he tells them. “According to General González, the Santa Barbára Garrison has a self-destruct system that can be activated during emergencies and times of crisis.”

“That’s right,” Morales confirms. “The self-destruct system was installed during the Communist Uprising of 2150 to prevent the garrison from falling into the hands of the insurgents. Thankfully, we never got a chance to activate the system; we swiftly crushed the army before it could happen.”

It’s a bit strange to hear about self-destruct systems being in military bases and garrisons, but Renji can see why it’s necessary, especially in a country like Val Verde.

“So this is our plan,” General Kuchiki continues. “We need to find a way to access the self-destruct system in the garrison. If we can disengage the coolant system and overload the power core, then we can destroy the whole base and whatever nest is inside there.”

“But before we can do that, we have to push back the PMCs and force them to surrender,” Kyoraku adds. “So that’s where the defector comes in.”

He turns and gestures to a thin, snake-like man with silver hair, spring-blue eyes, and a weirdly-unsettling smile.

Renji is immediately on edge, and he tenses up. He doesn’t know what it is about him-- whether it’s his smile, his appearance, or just how snake-like he is, Renji doesn’t know --but his instincts warn him not to let his guard down. 

Likewise, his squadmates look just as suspicious of this man.

“Don’t worry about me,” the man reassures, his voice inflected with a Kyoto accent. “I’m on your side now. The name’s Ichimaru Gin. Nice to meet ya.”

Mila Rose leans closer to Muguruma, whispering, “I don’t trust this guy”.

Muguruma simply nods in agreement.

“You don’t have to trust me,” Ichimaru tells her, his smile never leaving his face. “But I am on your side right now. And I happen to know where our strongest PMC squadron is hiding out. If we take out that whole squadron, then we can weaken the rest of the PMCs significantly. That way, it’ll be easier to force ‘em to surrender.”

“So where is this squadron hiding?” General Kuchiki asks him.

“They’re hiding right in the aircraft hangar near the garrison,” Ichimaru says. “Though they hadn’t been answerin' any radio calls around the time I defected, so who knows what happened to them?”

This Ichimaru guy is so… flippant. It’s a little weird, and Renji is still unsure as to why he chose to defect, but he supposes that it doesn’t matter right now. They’ve got a pretty strong advantage on their side now, so maybe he’ll be able to ignore this flippancy for now.

“Alright then. Let’s saddle up. We got a hangar to ambush now,” General Kuchiki orders everyone, marching towards the APC.

Without hesitating, Renji follows while leading his unit with Zaraki.

* * *

 The drive in the APC is silent for the most part, other than the occasional communications over the radio. Sometimes they can hear alien shrieks from outside, followed by a loud bang from the cannon atop the APC.

Every now and then, Renji will glance at Ichimaru and wonder just why he’s defected. Again, this is a strong advantage, but even then, just what are his ulterior motives for this anyways?

At some point, Ichimaru’s eyes meet his, and that snake-like smile gets a bit wider.

“So, you must be Abarai Renji, the Demon of Inuzuri?” Ichimaru says casually.

Renji raises an eyebrow. “‘Demon’?” he repeats.

“The nickname was goin’ ‘round the PMCs,” Ichimaru tells him. “Let’s just say you’ve made yourself quite a few enemies with Weyland-Yutani. You’ve given them a lot of trouble.”

“Wasn’t that obvious anyways?” Mila Rose asks, her voice hard.

When Ichimaru doesn’t answer, Bazz-B rounds on him.

“Just ‘cause you joined our side doesn’t mean we’re gonna be friends, got it?” he snaps. “You guys have given us a lot of shit with these fucking aliens, so don’t even think about tryin’ to be friends!”

“Enough, Bazz,” Renji tells him, his voice quiet yet firm.

Bazz-B stops ranting and calms down.

Turning his attention to Ichimaru, Renji asks, “Why did you defect?”.

Ichimaru’s smile widens a bit.

“Sorry, buddy. My reasons are too personal for me ta share with ya,” he says.

That’s all his answer’s gonna be? Well, fine. Renji knows when not to push someone.

The rest of the drive is silent before they arrive at the hangar. Halibel, Morales, and some other soldiers and Marines stay behind to stand guard at the APCs. When General Kuchiki, Ichimaru, Kyoraku, Renji, and the rest of his unit get out of their APC, Renji frowns as he takes a look at the scene before him.

There are no guards outside the hangar. It’s strange; if the unit is inside, shouldn’t there be some guards doing patrols to ensure that no one ambushes them?

Uneasiness pools in his stomach, and Renji tries to ignore it as they get closer to the hangar. But it only gets stronger when he notices how the hangar doors appear to have been twisted and torn apart by forces too powerful to be human.

Suddenly, a powerful stench drifts out from inside the aircraft. It reeks of something rotting, and Renji’s stomach clenches.

“I got a bad feeling ‘bout this,” Madarame mutters.

Bazz-B gags slightly. “Fuck, what’s that smell?” he hisses.

General Kuchiki hesitates slightly as he glances down at his motion tracker. “I got multiple signals here,” he says. “Stay sharp, people.”

He leads the way into the hangar, and Renji and Zaraki follow closely behind. Instantly, they’re met with darkness, a hot and dry heat, and the rank smell becomes more overpowering now.

Up ahead, the General pauses to turn on his shoulder lamp, and Renji also does the same. However, his stomach drops when his light lands on an unfurled egg.

“Oh… fuck…” he whispers, horrified as he really gets a look around the place.

The walls are covered with hardened resin, the exact same one from the Hokutan processor, from the reactor area on Iwashiro. Human corpses with holes in their chests are stuck to the walls, covered in the resin. Some of them lie on the ground, either with holes in their faces, or with their guts spilled out on the ground. So many of them are at different stages of decomposition.

Ichimaru looks shocked at the sight before him. “Oh no…”

General Kuchiki stares at the sight, completely speechless. “Good God…” he whispers.

“These things… they made another nest?” Soifon asks.

Kyoraku simply averts his gaze. “No wonder you lost contact with them,” he says to Ichimaru.

Renji directs his attention to where the General is looking, and his eyes widen in complete horror.

Against the wall is a human corpse in the process of being consumed. But not by an alien; it’s being consumed by… an egg.

“What the _fuck_ is that?” General Kuchiki asks, his voice filled with disgust and horror.

All Renji can do is slowly shake his head. “I… I don’t know…” he admits. To see the hardened General Kuchiki himself so shaken by this… well, he can’t blame him.

“Fucking hell…” The General slowly closes his eyes before reopening them. “Looks like there are no survivors here. Let’s get out of here and blow this place up.”

Suddenly, there’s screaming.

Renji and General Kuchiki turn around just in time to see an alien emerging from the walls like a demon, screeching hideously right before lunging at a helpless Verdean soldier. Before anyone else can even react, the soldier is dragged away screaming.

“They’re coming outta the walls!” Muguruma shouts over the sound of motion trackers beeping like crazy.

“Shoot ‘em! Get ‘em now!” Soifon shouts back.

More aliens are emerging from the walls like shadowy beasts, snarling and ready to kill. As the Marines start opening fire on the creatures, Renji notices an egg unfurling nearby, and a parasite crawling out of the egg.

But he’s quicker.

“Fuck off!” Renji shouts, firing his pulse rifle at the egg and Facehugger.

The odious parasite shrieks as it’s cleanly destroyed.

“Pair up, and watch each other’s backs!” Kyoraku orders.

“Watch out for the eggs! And don’t let any of these fuckers get outside!” Renji barks into his mic.

He backs against General Kuchiki, and he can almost hear him breathing.

Trying not to get overwhelmed by the memories, Renji keeps pressing against the General, all while firing at the oncoming creatures.

The hangar is quickly turning into a shooting gallery. People continue firing their pulse rifles, smartguns, and flamethrowers at the creatures, and it’s becoming difficult to stay back-to-back with their partners. Every now and then, General Kuchiki looks over his shoulder at Renji, and then swiftly turn back to fire bullets at an oncoming alien.

For a moment, Renji can’t breathe. Despite trying to fight them, old memories are beginning to unearth themselves, and in a split-second, he’s back on Iwashiro.

His heartbeat is beginning to drown out the other sounds around him. All he can hear are alien shrieks and the rapid fire of pulse rifles and…

His old squadmates screaming.

Kotetsu’s sobs and screams.

_I can’t let this happen now. Don’t do this to me!_

It’s a terrifying blend of flashback and reality all while Renji is trying to shoot these monsters. Out of all the nightmares he’s had, this one is probably the worst, because it’s real and it’s happening right now.

Renji feels trapped and helpless, and he can’t even tell what’s happening for real.

But then, he feels General Kuchiki grab his arm, and then a loud crash jolts Renji out of his memories.

That’s when he sees that the APC has smashed right through the hangar doors.

“Abarai!” he shouts, his normally-cool baritone now urgent. “Abarai, come on! We need to fall back now!”

Renji nods. “Yes, sir!” he says.

“Fall back, Marines!” General Kuchiki barks into his mic. “Get to the APC, and then we can destroy the rest of these things! Come on!”

Everyone starts falling back, all while shooting at the pursuing creatures. Renji and General Kuchiki follow, also firing at the aliens. At the same time, the people who’ve gotten into the APC start pulling the others inside, all while the APC’s cannon spins, destroying each oncoming creature with large bullets.

Even so, the creatures still come. Bazz-B screams as one of them tries to grab the back of his armour. Soifon’s flamethrower nearly singes part of his helmet off, but Bazz-B scrambles free and throws himself into the APC. Swiftly, Renji and General Kuchiki follow, rushing into the APC before Halibel slides the door shut.

“Is everyone here?” Halibel asks.

“Pretty much!” Ichimaru tells her.

“Alright. We’ve just destroyed the last of those creatures in there. Akon, start driving!” she orders.

As the APC pulls out of the hangar doors before destroying the hangar, General Kuchiki kneels by Renji and helps him sit up.

“Are you alright, Abarai?” he asks.

Renji coughs before grabbing his canteen. After gulping down some water and setting the half-empty canteen down, his heartbeat slows down and he tries to catch his breath.

“I… I’m okay,” Renji says, his voice sounding out of breath. “I had a flashback, but I’m fine now.”

The General nods slightly, understanding in his eyes.

“Is anyone hurt?” Kyoraku asks.

“I got some scratches on my right leg,” Iba reports. “Nothing major.”

 _“Um, Captain Halibel?”_ Morales’ voice comes through on her radio. _“We’ve, uh, got some company. A Weyland-Yutani dropship is approaching us.”_

Renji raises an eyebrow. What the hell?

Halibel also looks confused as she slides the APC door open. Sure enough, they hear the engines of a dropship nearing their position.

Standing up, Renji also heads to the door just in time to see the dropship land before its hatch opens up. Several armed PMCs jog outside before standing aside just in time for a man to come out.

When the man comes closer, stepping out of the dropship’s shadow, Renji’s eyes widen in shock as he recognizes him almost instantly.

An arrogant smile crosses the man’s face, and Renji’s eyes narrow as he tightens his grip on his pulse rifle.

“You are…!” he snarls.

The man’s smile widens. “Tsunayashiro Tokinada,” he greets, his voice cruel and snake-like. “A pleasure to meet you at last, Corporal Abarai.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, Chapter 7 is over.
> 
> The moment with the egg is a shout-out to the deleted scene from _Alien_ , where Ripley finds Dallas and Brett in the process of being morphed into alien eggs. I wanted to include that moment, since it's one of the most horrifying scenes in the whole franchise, honestly.
> 
> And for those who aren't familiar with the _Bleach_ light novels, Tsunayashiro Tokinada is from the novel _Can't Fear Your Own World_ , and the murderer of Tousen's friend. He's from a high-ranking noble family, so I thought that he'd really suit the corrupt corporate side of this universe.
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!


	8. A True Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renji confronts Tsunayashiro Tokinada, and comes to see just how vile of a man he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 8, where Renji gives a harsh "The Reason You Suck" speech to Tsunayashiro and Weyland-Yutani in general.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

For some reason, Renji hasn’t expected Tsunayashiro to be a slender, snake-like man. While he’s heard all the stories about this guy, he honestly expected to see a tougher, meaner-looking, Yakuza-boss kind of guy. Right now, though, if Renji didn’t know better, he’d probably assume that this guy is Ichimaru’s brother.

But at the same time, this slender, snake-like appearance is much more sinister for Renji.

Tsunayashiro Tokinada looks every bit like a corrupt, scheming businessman. Hell, he’s even dressed in a crisp business suit; a sharp contrast to General Kuchiki, who is in his combat fatigues and armour. Everything about this guy pretty much says that he’s an unrepentant asshole. And that arrogant, serpentine smile…

It’s honestly both chilling and infuriating. Renji just wants to wipe it off this guy’s face, but not yet.

Instead, Renji keeps his guard up as he regards Tsunayashiro with both anger and suspicion.

“What are you doing here, Tsunayashiro?” General Kuchiki asks as he steps forth, trying to maintain his calm.

Halibel and Morales, on the other hand, are not so trusting or patient. Instead, they both aim their guns at him and the accompanying PMCs, and Renji can almost feel the anger radiating from them.

“You got some nerve showing your face here, _hijo de puta,”_ Halibel says coldly, aiming her pistol at his forehead.

 Morales, on the other hand, is barely able to keep herself from pulling the trigger on her pistol. “You’ve fucked up our country quite a bit, you know? Because of you, thousands of our soldiers are dead, innocent people have been killed, and those _maldito_ Xenomorphs have infested our base and killed our colleagues, our friends! Give us one good reason why we shouldn’t put a bullet through your brain?”

“Oh my, how vulgar,” Tsunayashiro says, his smile unwavering. “Unfortunately, I’m not here for you two; rather, I’m here to tell you how important Corporal Abarai is to us at Weyland-Yutani.”

Renji looks at him, surprised and confused. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I’m here to make a deal with you, Abarai,” Tsunayashiro tells him. “If you and the military agree to spare the Santa Barbára garrison, we can end the war peacefully. I will give you anything you’ve ever wanted: money, power, whatever it is, it’ll all be yours. So long as you agree to keep the Xenomorphs alive. How does that sound?”

Blinking, Renji slowly shakes his head in disbelief. Did this fucker seriously try to _bribe_ him into keeping those creatures alive?

Even the others can’t believe what they’ve heard.

“Bullshit!” Renji glares at Tsunayashiro. “Do you even know how much you fucked up here?! We’ve been at war against you guys for six days already, all because you brought these things to Earth! People are dead because of you! And you’re seriously trying to bribe me for those things?! Don’t you dare tell me that I’m important to your fucking company because I know better, you bastard.”

Yet Tsunayashiro continues smiling.

“I knew you’d be stubborn. After all, you’ve foiled our attempts to harness them twice already,” he says. “But you need to look at the bigger picture, Abarai. The Xenomorphs are vital bioweapons for us as humans. If we can find a way to perfect and control them, we will be the most powerful species in the whole universe. We can win against any potential war against other lifeforms. Can’t you understand that?”

It’s the exact same bullshit that Granz and Aizen tried telling him in Okinawa, and Renji is in no mood to hear it. And… wait a minute. How the fuck does this asshole know about Iwashiro and Hokutan? Unless he…

Oh. _Oh._

Quickly, Renji unsheathes his shotgun and aims it at Tsunayashiro, only for the PMCs to aim their guns at him, daring him to pull the trigger.

Glaring at them, Renji slowly lowers the gun before turning his attention back to Tsunayashiro. “How the fuck do you know about Iwashiro and LV-352?” he demands.

“Because I was the one who ordered the shipment at Iwashiro, and I ordered the scientists on LV-352 to find the derelict ship there,” Tsunayashiro tells him. “And then I had Granz and Aizen send the orders to your previous unit, and even recommended that Granz send Kurotsuchi with your current unit.”

Ice forms in Renji’s stomach as he stares in both anger and horror.

This man… he’s been working with Granz and Aizen. He’s the reason why Iwashiro’s inhabitants are all dead. Why Renji’s previous unit was brutally slaughtered. Why Orihime was forced to see her own brother and colleagues killed in the most horrific ways possible.

“Why…?” Renji demands. “How can you do such things? How the fuck can you even sleep at night, knowing that thousands of people are dead because of you?!”

“There’s no room for emotions in the corporate world, Abarai,” Tsunayashiro tells him, his voice condescending. “You should understand that, even if you’re in the military. How else do you think Weyland-Yutani was able to get to where it is now? Surely by not becoming crying pillows. You think we would’ve been able to make all our technological advances if we were soft-hearted weaklings like you? It’s a matter of fact. Ruthlessness is what leads to power and wealth. And if it means sacrificing some people in order to achieve those goals, then so be it.”

“Is that why you murdered your own wife?” General Kuchiki demands coldly.

Tsunayashiro’s eyes become cold. “Kakyou was too idealistic,” he tells him. “She believed that kindness and peace were more important, that using humans to further one’s goals was immoral and wrong. And she dared to raise her voice at me when I told her of the Xenomorphs.”

His expression darkens. “She called me cruel, a monster, told me that I was an evil man for wanting more power,” he recalls. “I killed her because she refused to see the potential of the Xenomorphs, and because she threatened to expose my dealings. It would’ve done no good if she’d revealed my plans to the public.”

Renji just stares disbelievingly at Tsunayashiro, appalled at what he’s hearing. And he thought Kurotsuchi, Granz, and Aizen were sick bastards. But Tsunayashiro… he’s perhaps the worst one he’s ever met. And he’s seen a lot of scummy people all around the world, from insurgents to traffickers, so that’s saying something.

And this anger he’s feeling… it’s not even his usual kind of anger. It’s not fiery, explosive, or volatile like usual. This anger is cold, icy, yet just as dangerous.

But fuck it all. Renji’s been putting up with a lot of shit ever since Iwashiro; he might as well let Tsunayashiro have it.

So he looks him in the eye, an ice-cold glare in his own eyes.

“Let me tell you something, Tsunayashiro, and I want you to listen very carefully,” Renji says coldly. “I’ve seen the worst of humanity ever since I was a kid. I grew up in a shithole and I’ve seen some seriously fucked-up people over there. Hell, I lost some of my friends to those fucked-up bastards. I think I’ve seen it all: rapists, murderers, corrupt corporate assholes, and abusers. In fact, that’s one of the reasons why I enlisted with the Gotei: to escape from those assholes.

“But it doesn’t stop there at all. I’ve seen some truly vile people all over the world since I’ve joined the Marines. I’ve had to fight some of the most disgusting people in my career: Riga, Ekaterinburg, Hanoi, LV-315, Iwashiro… I saw those missions, Tsunayashiro. And those enemies were so heinous, I wouldn’t even wish them upon those I hate. But you know what? None of them, and I mean _none of them,_ come close to someone as vile and odious as you.”

Tsunayashiro doesn’t even react apart from a raised eyebrow, but Renji doesn’t stop.

“Tsunayashiro Tokinada, you are the most disgusting piece of shit I’ve ever met. I’ve always wondered what kind of person could be so heartless and greedy, but now that I see you, I understand. You have no compassion, no empathy, no honour… you’re a literal sociopath. Have you ever seen combat before? Have you gone through our training, gone off-planet to deal with the Company’s messes? Have _any_ of you fat cats and execs?”

Slowly shaking his head, Renji steps back.

“Of course not,” he says. “A lifetime of wealth and power has left you ignorant and blind. You’re among the few, Tsunayashiro. But we Marines… we’re the majority. And we have had enough of people like you. And when the majority has had enough…”

A cold smile crosses Renji’s face as he slowly raises his shotgun, chambering a round into the barrel as he aims it at Tsunayashiro’s head.

Tsunayashiro just laughs in disbelief. “You’re not actually going to shoot me,” he says. “You think I’m going to fall for your cheap attempt at intimidation?”

“Oh? Who said I was trying to intimidate you?” Renji asks, a savage grin on his face.

He pulls the trigger.

The shell punches its way through Tsunayashiro’s forehead, leaving a gaping, bloody hole in its wake. Tsunayashiro’s eyes are wide, even as he crumples lifelessly to the ground. Blood pools around him, staining his immaculate business suit as the life fades away from his eyes.

The rest of the PMCs are too shocked to even react, and so the rest of the Marines just gun them down before they can even pull out their own weapons.

Within a few minutes, the PMCs are dead, all surrounding Tsunayashiro in pools of their own blood. Only the pilots of the dropship are left alive, and all they can do is just announce Tsunayashiro’s death to the PMC commander, right before they’re taken as captives.

Renji lowers his shotgun as he wipes off some of the blood that splashed onto his cheeks. For a moment, he can’t believe he’s actually killed Tsunayashiro Tokinada. His ears are still ringing from the loud crack of his shotgun when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

“Impressive speech, Corporal,” General Kuchiki says sincerely. “You said everything that I’ve always wanted to tell him.”

“You think so?” Renji glances back in surprise.

A wry smile crosses General Kuchiki’s face. “Indeed, you did,” he says proudly. “Back when I was still somewhat involved with my family and going to all those elite dinners with them, I had to interact with that son of a bitch for the sake of business deals. I hated that man with a passion, but I could never say anything to him; wouldn’t want to ruin my family’s reputation.”

Renji can’t help it. He smiles briefly.

Right then, General Tristan’s voice comes through over General Kuchiki’s headset.

 _“This is Tristan. González and I raided the PMC camp just now. We’ve all just received news about the death of Tsunayashiro Tokinada,”_ she tells them. _“Can you confirm this news, General?”_

“Yes, I can confirm that Tsunayashiro Tokinada’s death is true,” General Kuchiki says. “He tried to bribe us to keep the Xenomorphs alive in exchange for the war ending, but Corporal Abarai killed him instead.”

 _“Well, that’s a relief,”_ Tristan says. _“Anyways, we need backup over here, so meet us at the PMC camp. Over.”_

“Affirmative. Kuchiki out.”

With that, General Kuchiki turns to the rest of the Marines. “Alright, we’re heading down to the PMC camp to give some backup for Tristan and González,” he announces. “Get into the APC, people! We don’t have all day! Come on!”

Renji follows General Kuchiki and the others into the APC. Once everyone’s inside, the doors slide shut and the APC rumbles across the terrain as it makes its way to the PMC camp.

As the APC drives, Renji notices Ichimaru looking at him.

“What is it?” he asks.

Ichimaru just smiles. “Nothing,” he says. “I’m impressed at how you managed to kill Tsunayashiro Tokinada. It was pretty satisfying to watch, ya know? I kinda wish you let me shoot at him a bit, though.”

Renji doesn’t really know what to say to that. “I’m… sorry?” he says in the end.

“Nah, don’t be,” Ichimaru reassures. “I’m just glad he’s dead now.”

Again, all Renji can do is slowly nod as he remains silent.

“You did good,” Zaraki tells him, clapping his shoulder. “I’m proud of you, Abarai.”

Renji smiles weakly at Zaraki. “Thanks, Sarge.”

Silence resumes in the APC.

Looking around, Renji can sense the exhaustion in the atmosphere. Everyone looks tired and worn out, and he can’t blame them. He also just wants this whole thing to be over already.

“How long has this war been going on already?” Mila Rose asks.

“Combat was ongoing for two days before we entered,” Zaraki tells her. “As of now, it's been about six, seven days. For us, though, we've been fighting for about three, four days now.”

“Well, it’s already the fourth day for us now,” Bazz-B points out. “But you got a point. Feels like we’ve been fighting forever.”

That’s what combat is always like.

Right then, Urahara’s voice comes through on the intercom of the APC.

 _“General Kuchiki? Something… strange is happening,”_ Urahara says.

 _“It looks like the Xenomorphs are… falling back,”_ Akon adds. _“They’re heading back to the garrison as we speak.”_

Renji raises an eyebrow at that, and General Kuchiki looks just as surprised. Everyone else looks somewhat surprised and confused as well.

“What do you mean?” General Kuchiki asks.

 _“They seem to be heading back en masse,”_ Urahara explains. _“It doesn’t look like they’re attacking anyone, though. But their numbers out here are much lesser than before. It’s almost like they’re… responding to something. Like bait, or some kind of signal.”_

At that, Renji frowns as he remembers Bazz-B’s theory about these creatures being like a hive, where the ones they’ve been fighting against are drones and warriors serving a larger queen alien.

Could that theory actually be true?

“Is something on your mind, Corporal Abarai?” Morales asks.

Renji nods. “Yes, Major. I was just remembering a… theory that one of my squadmates proposed,” he says, glancing at Bazz-B.

“You mean the one about the queen?” Soifon asks.

“Yeah, that one,” Renji says.

“You think it might be true, then?” Bazz-B asks, surprised.

“I dunno, but seeing how these aliens are apparently falling back, I’m starting to think it may be true,” Renji admits.

“What might be true?” General Kuchiki glances over at Renji and his squadmates, having just finished speaking with Urahara and Akon. “What theory are you talking about?”

Bazz-B is the one to speak. “A few hours ago, Captain Halibel had told us how many eggs had been delivered,” he explains. “But considering the number of Xenomorphs out there, I suggested that these things must be like an ant hive.”

“Bees have hives,” Mila Rose corrects him.

“I know that, man,” Bazz-B mutters before continuing. “Anyways, I thought there might be like, one main creature that runs the whole show. Like a queen.”

“A queen?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Well, that would explain the number of Xenomorphs we’ve seen running around like that right now.”

Again, Renji tries to ignore the sinking feeling within him.

* * *

By the time they arrive at the PMC camp, the sun is barely beginning to show itself from the horizon, but the sky is still dark.

When Renji gets out of the APC, he senses a certain kind of heaviness in the atmosphere, and he doesn’t know how to feel about it. That’s when he notices that the PMCs are also withdrawing from the area. There’s no fighting, no gunfire, nothing. In fact, the Marines and the Verdean soldiers are simply going through the area, tending to the injured, and preparing the dead for transport.

It seems like the fight is over.

That’s when they see General González and General Tristan approaching them.

“Just in time, General Kuchiki,” General Tristan says. “We managed to finish the fight much quicker than we expected. Seems like they got word that Tsunayashiro Tokinada has been killed, and so they surrendered shortly after that.”

“That’s it?” Halibel looks disbelieving. “All it took was learning that that _hijo de puta_ was dead to surrender?”

“That it did,” General González says. “However, we have another problem.”

“What happened?” General Kuchiki asks.

“We found out that right before they surrendered, they destroyed the control panel to remotely activate the Santa Barbára garrison’s self-destruct system,” General González explains. “We were thinking about dropping a bomb on the building, because going inside to manually overload the core is just too dangerous. But if anyone has any other strategies, I’m more than happy to hear them.”

As they discuss what other strategies they can use, Renji looks down as he starts thinking about everything that’s led up to this war.

He’s sick of running away from these creatures. He’s tired of how much they’ve traumatized him. And above all, he is done with how much death and destruction they’ve brought about.

Just dropping a bomb on those things isn’t going to satisfy him. No, Renji wants more than that. He wants to destroy every last one of them personally, and if it means going into the damn garrison, right into the belly of the beast, the heart of darkness, to do so, then so be it.

He’s playing with fire right now, but he’s going to take this risk. After all, as Mila Rose's armour says, the risk lives forever.

So without further ado, Renji steps forward. “I’ll go,” he says, getting the generals’ attention.

“Go where?” General Tristan asks.

Holding his ground, Renji’s voice is firm as he says, “I’ll go into the garrison, General.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Kakyou is the name of Tousen Kaname's friend who was murdered by her husband. Her name is revealed in _Can't Fear Your Own World_.
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!


	9. Destroy the Nest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renji and General Kuchiki team up to destroy the garrison and the nest together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the moment everyone's been waiting for! I had a lot of fun writing up this chapter, and I hope everyone enjoys reading it as well!
> 
> For the beginning part and the gearing up scenes, I recommend listening to "Going After Newt" from the _Aliens_ soundtrack (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czwr9T_bPPo), and towards the end of the chapter, I recommend that you listen to this particular track as well (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWqkmA50kG8).
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Silence falls over everyone as they register Renji’s declaration in surprise. General González looks astonished to hear this, but Renji holds his ground. It’s pretty obvious to everyone; his resolve is strong and there’s nothing that can make him change his mind right now.

“Abarai, are you sure?” Zaraki asks, also surprised.

Renji glances at him. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve put yourself in enough danger already, man!” Bazz-B tells him. “You’re probably gonna die if you go in there!”

“He’s right.” General Kuchiki steps forth, his voice also firm. “You’re really willing to go into the heart of darkness like that? Like he said, it’s extremely dangerous.”

“I don’t care about that anymore, sir,” Renji says firmly. “These things… they’ve taken so much already. I’ve had enough of them, and I’ve had enough of running away from them. Yeah, I might die, but it doesn’t matter anymore. For every bit of suffering I’ve gone through from them, I’m gonna repay them with a thousand times more.”

His voice wavers only somewhat, and that’s when it hits him. 

If he goes ahead with this, today could very well be the last day of his life. But somehow, none of that matters to Renji anymore. He’s already made a promise that he’s going to destroy every last one of those godless sons of bitches, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t go through with his promise.

He’s not going to back down anymore. He’s not going to be afraid of those monsters anymore. The war ends today, and he will damn well make sure that it ends.

General Kuchiki’s eyes soften slightly, and a smile twitches at the corners of his lips. “I’ve never seen bravery like yours before, Abarai,” he says. “Very well. Then I’ll be coming with you.”

Renji blinks. “Sir?”

“It’s a dangerous task, what you’ve just volunteered to do,” General Kuchiki tells him. “You’ll need help, so I’ll come and help you, Corporal.”

Now it’s Renji’s turn to be surprised.

Is the General really willing to risk his own life for a simple grunt like Renji? 

But at the same time, Renji is touched. To think he matters to the General himself, to the point where he’s willingly accompanying him into the nest…

“Alright, then,” General González says. “We’ll take you to the garrison.”

Seeing the looks of concern and worry on his squadmates’ faces touches Renji a little. So he gives them a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry,” he tells them. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

Right then, Halibel clears her throat, getting everyone’s attention. “Since we’re going ahead with this plan, allow me to explain how to activate the self-destruct system,” she says.

Renji makes sure to listen very carefully to her.

“The self-destruct system is located in the garrison’s sublevel,” Halibel explains. “Once it’s activated, the coolant to the power core will disengage, thus causing an overload that will destroy the entire garrison. It’s in a maintenance room in the sublevel, not too far from the core. You’ll have to power up the system first by starting up the generator. Next, there are two levers on the wall. Pull both of them downwards, and this should engage a control panel. Punch the first four keys on the keyboard to engage the system.

“After that, there are four collapsible metal towers and four bolts. Screw in the bolt at the top left tower first, pull it up, then activate the small switch inside of it. Next, you do the bottom left clamp, then bottom right, and then top right. Repeat the process with each one, and after that, you have ten minutes to get out of there. There’ll be a five minute failsafe if you need to stop the overload, but after those five minutes, the process is irreversible. So it would be best if both of you hurry, especially since there will be Xenomorphs down there.” Halibel finishes her explanation.

Looking at Renji and General Kuchiki with stern eyes, Halibel then asks, “have I made myself clear?”.

Renji nods. “Affirmative,” he says.

“Affirmative,” General Kuchiki confirms. “And what’s the blast radius?”

“Eighteen miles,” Halibel says. “We’ll have to retreat back to the camp for our safety.”

“We’ll take care of that,” General Tristan reassures.

“The dropship’s ready to take you there,” General González informs them, gesturing to a waiting dropship.

Already in the cockpit are Kira, Yadomaru, and Urahara.

“Wait!” Right then, Bazz-B comes up to Renji. “Take this with you.”

He hands him his flamethrower, which Renji accepts. “Thanks.”

General Kuchiki glances at Renji. “Now then, let’s go.”

Steeling himself, Renji nods and puts on his game face. “Yes, sir!”

And with that, they both head to the waiting dropship.

* * *

As the dropship flies towards the garrison, Renji gears himself up for what is going to be a hellish fight against the creatures.

First, he aligns both his pulse rifle and the flamethrower together, side-by-side, then winds tape around the both of them so that they’re fastened together securely. Renji works rapidly, taking belts of magazines and grenades from the fully-stocked ordnance racks of the dropship and slinging them over his shoulders. He then refuels the flamethrower with precise, determined movements.

For a moment, Renji can’t believe he’s actually doing this.

Four years ago, back on the hell that was Iwashiro, Renji had been desperately fleeing for his life, trying to get out of that nest as quickly as he could. He had been terrified, not wanting anything to do with those damn aliens ever again.

And now here he is, gearing up to willingly go into an alien nest for the sake of destroying it. It’s going to be hell, but Renji’s going to do this anyways. The Xenomorphs have already taken away so much from him, but not anymore.

He’s not gonna take any prisoners anymore. Every last one of those sons of bitches… he’ll destroy them all.

_I can’t imagine how horribly I might die down there._

It’s a brief thought, but it makes Renji nearly falter. Nearly.

He has to do this, and nothing’s going to stop him.

“Are you scared?” General Kuchiki’s voice interrupts his thoughts.

Turning, Renji sees that the General is already locked and loaded with his pulse rifle, flamethrower, and extra gear.

Renji pauses for a moment. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” he says, looking down. “But I have to do this.” He glances at General Kuchiki again. “What about you?”

A dry laugh escapes General Kuchiki’s lips. “I won’t lie, I’m also somewhat scared. Haven’t felt this scared since facing off against that hunter on LV-245,” he admits. “But I’m a man of honour, and I absolutely refuse to back down.”

Renji can’t help the slight smile on his face. “Thanks, sir.”

Right then, the dropship stops flying as it comes to a hover, and Urahara comes into the hold. “We’re here,” he says, his expression serious.

“Open the doors, Urahara,” General Kuchiki orders. “It’s time to blow this place up.”

“Of course.” Urahara hits a switch on the wall.

The hatch opens, revealing the roof of the garrison as wind blasts in. Renji and General Kuchiki head down the hatch onto the roof.

“Hurry up down there, alright?” Urahara asks.

 _“Don’t take too long, Abarai,”_ Kira says into Renji’s headset.

Renji smiles slightly. “I won’t.”

The smile quickly disappears, and he puts his game face back on before facing General Kuchiki. “Let’s do this, sir.”

As the dropship flies off, they go past the double-elevator shaft and head to the stairwell, their weapons at the ready. Renji hits the switch on the side, and the door slides open, revealing an empty stairwell lit by red emergency lights.

General Kuchiki takes the lead, and Renji follows him, wielding his dual rifle-flamethrower as they start heading down the stairs.

The General’s skin glistens with sweat, much like Renji’s. The air is hot and dry, and the further they descend down the stairs, the hotter it gets. 

It’s almost like they’re descending into a Dantean hell. For a short while, there is silence, apart from the thrum of the place’s systems, and distant screeches of Xenomorphs.

Renji’s heart is pounding hard against his chest as they descend to the fourth level.

Suddenly, there’s a small pack of Xenomorphs clawing up the stairs towards them, screeching viciously.

Instantly, Renji and General Kuchiki open fire on them, making quick work of them with their flamethrowers.

In that short time, Renji’s able to observe how General Kuchiki is swift and graceful with his flamethrower. He fires with a short and controlled burst, and the flames swiftly engulf three aliens.

It’s a sharp contrast to Renji’s rougher technique, but it’s amazing to observe.

Once the creatures are dead, they continue heading downwards, only to run into more creatures on their way.

“Like goddamn cockroaches, these things!” General Kuchiki shouts over the roar of his flamethrower and the shrieks of the creatures. “They don’t stop coming at all!”

Cockroaches? Well, that’s a pretty apt comparison.

Once these ones are taken care of, Renji and General Kuchiki continue on their way. It’s when they get to the third level that they notice that there are no more creatures coming towards them.

“These things… they seem to be almost protective,” General Kuchiki observes.

“Well, we are in their nest,” Renji points out.

“I think there might be something else they’re so protective of,” the General muses. “But let’s hope you’re right, Abarai.”

When they get to the second level, there’s something else they notice.

The walls of the stairwell are encrusted with a distinct biomechanical resin, and not far down, the catacomb begins.

For a moment, Renji feels that flare of fear within, and he swallows. But he shakes his head and keeps on going.

General Kuchiki stares up at the resin, both repulsed yet somewhat fascinated. “So this is what they use to cocoon their victims?” he observes.

“Pretty much,” Renji murmurs.

The air is now so much hotter, it’s almost stifling. As they go further down, they notice the rotting corpses trapped in the walls, all of them with holes in their chests. It’s a gruesome sight, and Renji nearly has flashbacks of Iwashiro right then and there, but he closes his eyes to dispel the images.

Every now and then, there’s a strange hissing in the distance, and it reminds Renji of the processor on Hokutan. Shortly after Zaraki had killed that chestburster, there had been a strange hissing kind of noise in the air. Renji doesn’t know exactly what it is, but he feels a sinking feeling in his stomach when he hears it.

He tries to ignore the sense of dread and uneasiness, but it’s hard to ignore.

“How much further?” he asks General Kuchiki.

“We’re almost there,” the General says.

They go down one more level, and the resin on the walls becomes more and more until finally, they’re right before the entrance to the sublevel.

General Kuchiki presses the wall switch, and the door slides open to reveal an alien maze. The walls and floors are practically covered with the hard resin, and the air is practically filled with steam. A few lights flash intermittently, only adding to the eeriness of this place.

It’s almost like the whole damn place is alive.

Renji wipes the sweat off his forehead, and then he and General Kuchiki enter the sublevel.

Again, there are no other creatures coming at them, oddly enough. But they both keep their guard up as they make their way through the labyrinth-like place.

“This is Kuchiki. We’ve reached the sublevel now,” General Kuchiki says into his mic. “We might be dark on comms soon. We’re going in. Kuchiki out.”

As they go through the tunnels, Renji keeps his eyes out for both the maintenance room and any oncoming Xenomorphs. But no creatures come, and while it should be a relief, Renji can’t help but have a bad feeling about it.

“A little weird we haven’t seen any more of those things coming at us,” Renji murmurs.

“Don’t drop your guard, Abarai,” General Kuchiki orders. “You don’t know where they might be.”

“Yes, sir.”

“How much further do we have?”

Renji glances down at his tracker, which is pointing to the maintenance room. “Ten meters, then we turn right,” he says.

“Good. We’re almost there then.”

There are no other signals detected on the motion tracker, and they eventually reach the corner they have to turn at. For a moment, Renji is tense, as he expects claws and teeth to jump out at him and the General when they turn.

Nothing is there.

Finally, they reach the maintenance room. The doors are shut, and Renji holds his motion tracker out, making sure there’s nothing inside. No signals show up, and Renji gives the General a nod.

General Kuchiki pushes the doors open, revealing a dark room with resin encrusted on the floor and walls. The only things left untouched by the resin are the generators and other equipment.

Right in the middle of the room is a generator with a label that reads, ‘Enciende en caso de emergencia’.

“This is the one,” General Kuchiki informs Renji. “It says, ‘activate in case of emergency’.”

Renji takes a quick look around the room before finding the two levers covered by a panel with ‘Autodestrucción’ emblazoned upon it. “Found the other levers,” Renji says, heading over to them.

“Good. Now then, let’s get this over with.”

With that, General Kuchiki grabs the lever firmly and cranks it three times. Once he presses the red button on the generator, a buzzing alarm goes off.

Quickly, Renji flips up the cover and pulls down on the right lever first. It takes a slight amount of effort, but he manages. Then, he moves to the left lever and pulls it down.

The moment it’s pulled down, a floor-mounted panel near the generator opens up, and Renji and General Kuchiki quickly rush over to it, kneeling before it.

General Kuchiki opens up the cover further, revealing the keyboard and metal towers, and takes a quick glance at the Spanish instructions on the underside of the cover. In huge red letters at the top is the word ‘PELIGRO’, and beneath that reads, ‘Autodestrucción de Emergencia’.

While Renji can kind of understand what the huge ‘PELIGRO’ means, he doesn’t know what else the instructions say. General Kuchiki reads the instructions intently, much to Renji’s surprise.

“Can you understand this, sir?” he asks.

General Kuchiki nods. “I learned Spanish, so I can read the instructions,” he says. “It says that the garrison will detonate in T-minus 10 minutes, and the cut-off system will not operate after T-minus 5 minutes.”

“Just like what Captain Halibel said,” Renji says. “The order is top-left, bottom-left, bottom-right, top-right.”

“Exactly.” General Kuchiki presses down on the keys in order, and then there’s a click.

“I’ll keep guard, General,” Renji says, turning away from the panel and wielding his pulse rifle and flamethrower, just in case.

Starting with the top-left tower, General Kuchiki takes the bolt and screws it into the top of the tower. He pulls it up, then activates a switch on the inside. As the tower starts rising, General Kuchiki takes the bolt for the bottom left tower and repeats the process.

It takes only a couple of minutes, and then General Kuchiki is finished.

“Done. Now then, you take care of the right side, Abarai. I’ll stand guard,” General Kuchiki orders.

“Yes, sir!”

Renji rushes to the panel as General Kuchiki takes his place, and takes the bolt for the bottom right tower. His heart is pounding hard against his chest as he screws the bolt into the tower, and then pulls it up. After activating the switch inside, he then moves onto the top right tower as the other one rises up.

He works quickly, and he can feel the sweat on his forehead as he screws in the bolt, then pulls up the tower. He presses down on the switch, and the tower starts rising up, right as an alarm starts blaring through the garrison.

Instantly, steam starts pouring into the room as various screens start flashing evacuation signs, and Renji stands up just as an automated female voice starts a countdown over the intercom.

_“Peligro. El sistema de destrucción de emergencia está activado. La guarnición hará explosión dentro de… diez minutos.”_

“Alright, that’s it! Good work, Abarai!” General Kuchiki says urgently. “Now let’s get the hell outta here!”

“On it!”

Renji and General Kuchiki rush out of the room and into the corridor. Steam is pouring everywhere, emergency lights are flashing, and alarms are blaring. It briefly reminds Renji of Iwashiro and his rush to get out of there, but he suppresses the flashback.

“Which way now, Abarai?!” General Kuchiki asks him, coming to his side.

Glancing down at the motion tracker, Renji sees the pointer indicating towards the left.

“Left!” he says, taking the lead.

They head left and down the steam-filled corridors as quickly as they can. Renji holds onto his rifle-flamethrower, just in case any creatures come at them. Likewise, General Kuchiki holds onto his own weapons a bit tighter, also keeping an eye out for any creatures.

Renji’s heart is pounding faster than ever, and his breathing is quick and uneven. His mouth feels dry, and the air seems to be getting hotter and drier the further they go.

At the same time, that sense of dread returns within him. And the more they run, the stronger it becomes.

Maybe it’s because of all the steam reducing their visibility? After all, it’s much harder to spot enemies with all this steam.

Or it could be the alarms and repeated announcements that’s only increasing the stress.

Deep down, Renji knows that’s not the case.

“How much further, Abarai?” General Kuchiki asks.

Renji glances down at the motion tracker. “Fourteen meters, sir!” he says.

They keep running down the resin-encrusted corridors, adrenaline rushing through their veins. No other creatures come at them so far.

Just as the intercom announces that there’s seven minutes left, Renji and General Kuchiki emerge from the corridor into some kind of chamber. They keep on running until Renji notices something from the corner of his eyes and stops abruptly, his eyes widening in shock.

It’s an egg.

“Abarai?” General Kuchiki’s voice is somewhat distant, and he vaguely hears him stop in his tracks. Then there’s a whispered, “oh no…” from him.

However, Renji doesn’t answer him. He just wordlessly looks around the chamber, staring in horror at what's surrounding them.

There are eggs everywhere. The whole damn place is a minefield of eggs.

Renji’s heart pounds against his chest, and sweat runs down his forehead. There has to be hundreds of eggs in here.

_“Maybe it’s like an ant hive.”_

_“Bees, man, bees have hives.”_

_“You know what I mean! There’s like, one female that runs the whole show.”_

The sound of something viscous from behind them interrupts Renji’s thoughts.

Renji and General Kuchiki slowly turn around, dread steadily rising within them.

General Kuchiki’s eyes widen slightly, and Renji stares in both shock and disgust.

Bazz-B and Mila Rose’s words echo again in Renji’s mind as he watches a huge, slimy, pulsating tube churning out a leathery egg onto the ground.

_Fuck… oh god, no…_

Renji’s eyes slowly follow the huge ovipositor, suspended from a lattice of pipes and conduits, revulsion and horror pooling thickly in his stomach.

Then his eyes land upon a huge, egg-filled abdominal sac that pulses viscerally.

And attached to the sac… it’s some kind of abomination, hidden by steam. At first, Renji’s not too sure what he’s even looking at.

But then the steam clears, the shape becomes clearer, and it dawns on him in a cold dread. Renji’s eyes widen in sheer horror at the nightmarish sight before him.

“Oh... fuck...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, Chapter 9 is over. I do hope I managed to convey the horror well enough. That aside, I really had fun writing BAMF Renji and BAMF Byakuya here, especially with them working together to destroy the garrison.
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!


	10. Hive Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renji comes face-to-face with the Xenomorph Queen... twice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is: the confrontation with the Xenomorph Queen! This was kind of difficult to write, since it's not happening in space, but I hope everyone enjoys!
> 
> Advanced warning for violence against an android.

_ “You know what I mean! There’s like, one female that runs the whole show.” _

_ “Yes, a queen.” _

_ “Yeah, the mama. She’s badass, man. Like, real big.” _

Yet again, Bazz-B’s words echo in Renji’s mind as he stares up at what can only be described as a royal alien.

A queen.

She’s huge, nearly fourteen feet tall, and she towers over her eggs, her muted black hide glistening hideously in the lights. Upon her head is a large, armoured, crown-like carapace, from which her face and mouth full of razor-sharp teeth emerge. On her back are two dorsal tubes that are more spike-like, and she has six-fingered hands. In addition to those arms, she also has a second, smaller set of arms right in the center of her chest. 

Her massive inner jaw extends out, much like a regular Xenomorph, but much,  _ much _ bigger than theirs.

Renji and General Kuchiki just stare at the Queen as she lets out a hiss, and Renji’s eyes widen in horror as he recalls hearing that familiar hiss.

He’s heard that hiss before… in the nest on LV-352, shortly after Zaraki had killed the chestburster from that woman. And all this time, he believed it to be the hissing of multiple creatures. To think that there had been a Xenomorph Queen on Hokutan… and none of them had seen it…

Right then, he notices two warrior Xenomorphs lurking in the shadows on either side of the Queen, hissing in response, as if ready to attack. General Kuchiki aims his flamethrower at them, but Renji grabs his arm, slowly shaking his head. 

It’s time to lay down the law.

Still staring up at the Queen, Renji holds his flamethrower towards the eggs while holding it above them. Then, he shoots out a steady stream of fire into the air.

As he expects, the Queen lets out an inhuman screech that sounds disturbingly close to a wail. A shudder runs through him, but he quickly regains his composure. Regarding the Queen defiantly, Renji then aims his still-ready weapon at the eggs, proving his point.

_ Let us go, or I’ll torch your offspring. _

Renji understands the Queen, in a way. He may not be a parent, but his unit is like a family to him, one way or another. And the Queen definitely doesn’t want her babies to be killed.

Sure enough, the Queen understands him. Turning her head to the warrior Xenomorphs, she hisses at them, and they withdraw back into the shadows.

_ “La guarnición hará explosión dentro de… cinco minutos.” _

With that, Renji and General Kuchiki slowly back away to the exit, still keeping their eyes on the Queen.

“Take it easy, General,” Renji murmurs. “Not too fast.”

General Kuchiki nods. “Not bad,” he tells him.

Renji just responds with a nod, his eyes still on the Queen.

It might be foolhardy to just let her be, but there’s really no point in trying to destroy her now. She’ll be destroyed when the garrison blows up anyways.

And the last thing Renji wants is to have that mean motherfucker chasing them.

But just as they near the exit, a gut-wrenching stench suddenly hits Renji hard. He glances to his right, and his eyes widen slightly at the sight of an egg unfurling open.

His eyes narrow, and something inside him snaps.

Maybe the Queen willed it open. Or maybe the egg opened automatically. Either way, Renji really doesn’t care.

Renji glares up at the Queen, and then tilts his head slightly.  _ I trusted you. _

Aiming his flamethrower at the nearest egg, Renji pulls the trigger.

He shoots a powerful jet of fire with his flamethrower at every single egg in sight, torching them mercilessly.

The Queen screeches in rage, her arms thrashing about, but Renji doesn’t stop. He just keeps on burning all the eggs, feeling a sick kind of satisfaction as he glares at the inferno he’s created.

“Abarai! Heads up!” General Kuchiki shouts, and Renji snaps out of it just in time to see the two Xenomorphs rushing towards them.

General Kuchiki is quicker, and he finishes them off with his pulse rifle before turning his rifle on the eggs, shooting furiously at them.

The eggs explode, but Renji continues his rampage on the eggs, all while the Queen screeches. And when his flamethrower is done, Renji moves onto the grenade launcher, pumping the slide and shooting grenades at the eggs.

But he’s nowhere near finished.

Pumping the slide again, Renji shoots a grenade at the Queen’s ovipositor. It explodes on impact, tearing the tube apart, but Renji doesn’t stop firing until her ovipositor is completely destroyed.

The Queen is now berserk, wailing and screeching hideously over the inferno beneath her.

_ “La guarnición hará explosión dentro de… cuatro minutos.” _

“Abarai! Come on! Let’s get the hell outta here!” General Kuchiki’s voice snaps Renji out of his rampage, and he feels his hand pulling him away to the exit.

Turning, Renji and General Kuchiki rush out of the chamber, running blindly towards the freight elevator shaft. Emergency lights are flashing, alarms are blaring, steam is blasting everywhere, and Renji runs faster, his breathing becoming quicker.

As more creatures rush after them, Renji and General Kuchiki shoot without mercy, obliterating them with quick, controlled bursts.

By the time they reach the elevators, Renji’s weapons are empty.

_ “La guarnición hará explosión dentro de… tres minutos.” _

Frantically, Renji slams the buttons of both elevators. “Come on… come on…!” he pleads through gritted teeth.

Right then, the first elevator comes, its doors sliding open.

Almost laughing in relief, Renji and General Kuchiki rush inside. But just as they push the button for the roof, an enraged screech echoes in the corridor. A silhouette emerges from the smoke and steam, and Renji’s face pales. 

“Fuck…” General Kuchiki curses.

The Queen, having detached herself from her ovipositor, starts honing in on the elevator, screeching viciously. Mercifully, the doors slide shut before she can get to them.

“Come on… hurry up! Hurry up, goddammit!” Renji hisses as the elevator ascends to the roof.

His heart is pounding hard, his chest feels tight, and his breathing comes out in quick, shallow pants. Likewise, General Kuchiki is trying to catch his breath, inky-black strands of his hair plastered to his forehead with sweat.

Finally, the elevator reaches the roof. The doors slide open, and Renji and General Kuchiki rush outside, only to stop in shock.

The dropship is gone.

“What the hell?!” General Kuchiki demands, his voice just as horrified.

Right from behind, Renji hears the whirring of the second elevator, and his stomach drops.

There’s only one other source of that.

“No… No, goddammit!” Renji shouts, just as the elevator rises up to the roof.

“Fucking hell…” General Kuchiki curses.

The elevator is nearing the roof, and they can hear the Queen’s enraged screeches all the way from there.

_ “La guarnición hará explosión dentro de… uno minuto.” _

Renji closes his eyes tightly. If they’re lucky, the place might just blow up before the Queen gets to them.

_ Rukia… Orihime… I’m sorry…  _

Suddenly, right from behind them, they hear the whirring of dropship engines. Renji’s eyes open and he and General Kuchiki swiftly turn around to see the dropship rising behind them, its engines roaring.

“Oh, thank fate…” Renji whispers as the cargo hatch opens up.

_ “La guarnición hará explosión dentro de… treinta segundos. Veintinueve, veintiocho, veintisiete, veintiséis…” _

Quickly, Renji helps General Kuchiki inside first, just as the doors to the elevator open up. An enraged hiss has Renji turn toward the elevator in time to see a very,  _ very  _ pissed off Queen menacing towards him.

“Get your ass in here, Abarai!” General Kuchiki barks urgently, holding his hand out. “Come on! Now!”

Turning back, Renji quickly takes General Kuchiki’s hand, gripping it firmly as he climbs onto the hatch. General Kuchiki pulls Renji into the dropship, shortly before the hatch closes up.

_ “Quince, catorce, trece, doce…” _

“Step on it, Yadomaru!” Renji shouts.

The dropship flies off, away from the collapsing garrison right as the countdown reaches ten seconds. Even as they fly away, they can hear the automated countdown.

_ “Cinco, cuatro, tres, dos, uno.” _

Beneath them, the garrison goes up in a sun-hot dome of energy, the shockwave almost rocking the dropship. However, after a few seconds, they continue flying away from the explosion.

Renji’s breathing slowly becomes steadier as he and General Kuchiki stare at each other in shock, as if they can’t believe it.

“We made it…” General Kuchiki murmurs, laughing slightly.

Finally, a small smile crosses Renji’s face. “Yeah. We made it.”

* * *

The dropship finally lands at the makeshift base, and when the hatch opens up, Renji and General Kuchiki are surprised to see nearly everyone waiting for them.

“Ah, there they are!” Kyoraku greets them with a wry smile.

“Abarai! Kira! Yadomaru! Come on and get your asses over here!” Zaraki barks, but there’s a smile on his face.

The cockpit door opens, and Kira, Yadomaru, and Urahara emerge, joining Renji and General Kuchiki as they leave the dropship.

General González smiles proudly at Renji and General Kuchiki. “Good job, you two,” he says. “I should’ve known I could count on you to do it.”

Urahara smiles apologetically at them. “I truly apologize for the scare we gave you,” he says.

“The platform was becoming too unstable,” Kira explains. “We couldn’t risk staying on there any longer.”

“So we had to circle and hope that things didn’t get too rough to take you off,” Yadomaru adds.

Renji smiles proudly at Kira and Yadomaru. “You did great,” he tells them sincerely.

“You too, Urahara,” General Kuchiki says, also smiling.

Urahara smiles, but it quickly fades when he notices an innocuous drop of liquid splash onto the ground, making a sizzling sound as it eats away into the dirt.

Acid.

Suddenly, Urahara’s back arches sharply, catching everyone off-guard as he shouts out in shock.

Renji’s eyes widen in shock as a huge, scorpion-tail stinger bursts through Urahara’s chest. White synthetic fluid sprays out from Urahara’s mouth and chest as he thrashes about and yells in pain.

_ What the hell?! _

Everyone backs up, horrified, as a convulsing Urahara is slowly raised into the air.

And then… that telltale hiss.

Renji’s blood runs cold as he stares up at the Queen, hidden in the dropship tail and glowering down at everyone else.

“Holy fucking shit…” Zaraki curses.

“What the fuck is that?!” Bazz-B shouts.

The Queen hisses again, twisting her stinger in Urahara until he’s torn in half from the waist and flung aside like a rag doll.

“Oh my god…” General Kuchiki whispers.

Climbing down from her hiding place, the Queen hisses at everyone, about to advance towards them.

For a moment, Renji is frozen in place. His eyes dart around frantically, trying to come up with a new plan when he notices the hangar.

More specifically, his eyes land upon none other than a large yellow exoskeleton. A P-5000 Power Loader.

Right then, he has an idea.

Renji then waves his arms over his head. “Over here!” he shouts at the Queen, getting her attention.

As the Queen hisses, Renji glances at General Kuchiki, mouthing, “Get them outta here, General!”.

General Kuchiki nods, and then gets everyone to back off and head towards the makeshift arsenal.

Then, Renji bolts to the makeshift hangar.

The Queen is quick to chase him, but Renji manages to outrun her. He quickly rushes into the hangar and swiftly slams the lever down.

As the doors slide shut, the Queen tries in vain to get inside. She hits the door, snarling and hissing, but the material resists. From outside, Renji hears pulse rifle fire and the roars of flamethrowers, followed by angered screeching.

Quickly removing his armour and throwing his empty weapons down, Renji moves quickly to the power loader, climbing into the machine. He works quickly, buckling himself in with the harness, sliding his feet into the secure straps, and pulling the roll cage down.

After making sure that he’s secure, Renji then punches some keys on the keypad to power up the loader. For a moment, he’s surprised that he still remembers how to use this, but it quickly fades away.

While Renji may have been the loader operator when he was Private First Class in a different unit, it’s Kira and Madarame who operate the power loaders in Zaraki’s unit. But even then, he still has some experience with working the loaders, should Kira and Madarame be injured.

As he moves the loader’s arms up, Renji then presses the controls to open the door. Then, he gets himself ready.

The door slides up, and Renji sees the Queen turn towards him, slowly moving away from the other soldiers and Marines.

Glaring, Renji takes a step, and the huge foot of the power loader stomps into the ground. He takes another step, advancing.

His expression is fierce. Hell hath no fury like Corporal Abarai Renji protecting his Marines, and that primal, murderous rage surges through him, banishing whatever fear is within him.

“Get away from them, you bitch!” Renji snarls fiercely.

The Queen hisses savagely, turning on Renji.

Renji raises the arms of the power loader as he advances, and the Queen charges towards him.

Raising one arm up, Renji then brings it down, slamming the Queen’s carapace and knocking her down and sending her crashing into several large crates nearby.

The Queen screeches furiously, re-emerging from the crates as a blur of rage before lashing out.

But Renji is much quicker, and he knocks her down hard with the other arm.

Now he’s  _ really _ pissed off the Queen.

As she gets back up with an enraged hiss, Renji lets out a warrior-like cry.

_ “Come on!” _ Renji shouts.

It’s a fierce, vicious battle that doesn’t seem to end. Claws swipe, tail lashes, and Renji parries them all with powerful swipes of the steel forks. Screeches and mechanical whirring mix together in a harsh cacophony, and adrenaline surges through Renji’s veins.

However, the longer the fight goes on, the more vicious the Queen is getting. She’s already got killing intent, but it’s getting more and more intense now.

But Renji just responds by attacking with an even stronger murderous intent.

As the Queen charges at him, Renji locks her head in between one of the forks, closing them around her neck. She screeches again, lashing and writhing, her limbs trying to swipe at Renji but failing. 

Suddenly, her stinger stabs the spot right near Renji’s ear, and he barely dodges it. The Queen tries to get him again, but Renji is lucky enough to miss it again.

Then the Queen tries another trick: her inner jaws.

Her striking teeth shoot almost a meter from inside her fanged jaws, but Renji narrowly misses them. She tries again, but misses him again.

Renji strains against the Queen, trying to push her back. It’s getting much tougher to defend himself, especially since it’s been a while since he last used a power loader.

At this point, Renji knows he has to end it soon. Then again, it’s easier said than done.

Suddenly, the Queen backs off, screeching as her carapace is hit with pulse rifle fire. Moving back, she lets out an enraged hiss as she turns to the source.

To Renji’s surprise, he sees Zaraki aiming a pulse rifle at the Queen, ready to fire again.

“Sarge?!” he almost shouts.

The Queen snarls at Zaraki, getting ready to charge at him.

“Get outta the loader, Abarai!” Zaraki shouts back at him. “Get your ass outta there!”

“What about you?!”

“Don’t worry ‘bout me! Just get to safety already!” Zaraki fires again at the Queen.

And right then, Renji sees why.

General Kuchiki is using a control panel to activate a towed RPG, controlling it so that it’s at a reasonable distance from the Queen.

Just as someone else opens fire on the Queen, turning her attention away from them, Renji powers down the loader and unstraps himself. Once he climbs down, he runs back to where the others are, and he’s quickly joined by Zaraki.

_ “You clear yet?!” _ General Kuchiki demands into Zaraki’s headset.

“We’re clear!” Zaraki responds.

And just as they clear from the vicinity, the RPG fires two shots right at the Queen, hitting her in a mid-sized explosion.

The Queen screeches as she’s engulfed by the explosion, and the shockwave nearly knocks Renji off his feet.

However, he holds himself firm, watching as the Queen is destroyed for good in the fire.

When the explosion dies down, Renji slowly unclenches his body, standing up straight. And right then, the exhaustion suddenly hits him, and he nearly stumbles onto his knees, but a firm grip on both his arms stops him from falling.

On his right side is General Kuchiki. On his left is Zaraki.

Both of them hold him firmly, but Renji can see the pride in their eyes.

“We got you, Abarai,” Zaraki tells him.

Renji smiles weakly. “Thank you,” he says.

“Abarai!” Right then, Bazz-B’s shouting gets Renji’s attention.

Looking up, Renji sees Bazz-B, Mila Rose, Kira, Muguruma, and Soifon rushing towards him, the rest of the unit in tow. To his surprise, he sees tears of relief sliding down Bazz-B’s face. Even Mila Rose and Soifon look like they might cry any minute now.

Renji can’t help but smile. “You guys,” he says.

Suddenly, he’s knocked back a little when Bazz-B throws his arms around him in a hug. “Whoa!”

Bazz-B hugs him hard and goddammit, Renji can’t just stand there with his arms at his side like that.

So he hugs him back just as warmly.

“I thought you were gonna die, man…” Bazz-B sounds tired, helpless.

Tears fill Renji’s eyes, but he smiles. “I’m not gonna die that easily, dumbass,” he chides him lightly.

As everyone else joins in on the hug, Renji’s heart is overcome with a warm feeling.

And in this moment, he’s never felt more grateful to be alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the war is finally over.
> 
> We're nearing the end of this story, everyone! The next chapter will be the last one, so I do hope you look forward to it!
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!


	11. Ceremonial Honours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the war over, Renji and his unit head to San Cristóbal, the capital of Val Verde, for the award ceremony and celebration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the last chapter of "Heart of Darkness"! It's been a long ride with this story, and I'm so happy to have finished it! Thanks for all your support, and I hope you enjoy the last chapter!

San Cristóbal is a lovely city. With a unique blend of old 19th-century, modern, and Inca-inspired architecture, all of it standing against a lush green matorral, and a vibrant, spirited atmosphere in the downtown area, it almost reminds Renji of Santiago.

Even more, it’s a very pleasant day today. The sun is shining, the weather is nice, and there’s a gentle breeze in the air. It’s not too hot at all, and it’s perfect weather for a day like today.

Looking at the mirror in his hotel room, Renji smiles slightly as he adjusts his white peaked cap over his hair. He’s dressed in his burgundy dress uniform, his three medals (including his Order of the Noble Sakura) displayed proudly on the left side. Once he finishes the last button on his burgundy coat, he slides his gloves on before heading out to the lobby.

“Lookin’ good, Abarai,” Zaraki praises.

Like Renji, he’s also wearing his dress uniform.

“Thanks, Sarge,” he says. “When will everyone else come down?”

“They should be here in the next twenty minutes,” Zaraki says. “The bus is already outside and ready.”

With a nod, Renji waits in the lobby together with Zaraki.

A month has passed since the Xenomorph War in Hueco, and so much has been happening since then.

Weyland-Yutani Corporation has officially fallen for good. After a very lengthy series of trials in Japan and America, in which many shady incidents and crimes were uncovered, pretty much ninety percent of Company executives have been sentenced to life in prison. Following the Company’s liquidation, all of their assets have been seized by the Gotei and the U.S. Army for inspection, and even for possible destruction.

In addition, they had been forced to give up the coordinates of the derelict ship, the one that houses all those Xenomorph eggs, so that the Gotei could nuke it from orbit.

Hueco has also been slowly recovering and rebuilding since combat ended. Shortly after the war had ended, Renji and his squad had stayed in Hueco to help with clean-up and other post-combat operations, as well as helping the citizens return to their normal lives.

And now, they’re in San Cristóbal, getting ready to head to the Capitolio Nacional, the parliament building, for an award ceremony. There, the Verdean government and armed forces will be honouring all the Japanese, American, and Verdean troops who took part in combat against the Company and the Xenomorphs. And after the ceremony, there’ll be a fancy banquet at the nearby convention center.

“It’s a nice day today, isn’t it?” Renji asks casually.

Zaraki nods. “Perfect day for the ceremony,” he agrees. “I’m pretty sure this is gonna be a long one, though. I do hope you slept well, Abarai.”

Renji nods. “I did, actually,” he says.

The nightmares still linger, but they’re getting a lot better now. They still come every so often, but they’re less fierce and much less frequent than before. Renji had spoken with Unohana about it, and she’d reasoned that it’s probably because he’d faced them head-on for a third time.

“Abarai!” Renji’s thoughts are interrupted by a familiar voice, and he glances at the elevators to see Hisagi coming towards them, already in his dress uniform.

Renji smiles. “You’re the first one down here,” he says. “How’s your arm doing, Hisagi?”

Hisagi grins slightly. “Feels as good as new!” he tells him. Then his smile falters. “I’m sorry ‘bout not being able to help more in combat…”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Renji reassures him. “You helped out a lot with the cleanup. And besides, your shoulder was injured. There wasn’t much you could’ve done in combat with an injured shoulder.”

“I guess you’re right,” Hisagi agrees.

A short while later, the rest of the unit comes down to the lobby, all wearing their Burgundy Dress uniforms. Once everyone gets in formation, Renji and Zaraki lead them out to the waiting military bus, and they all climb inside to head to the Capitolio.

Renji takes a window seat, with Hisagi sitting right next to him. As the bus drives to the Capitolio, he just stares out of the window and gets lost in his thoughts.

Four years ago, if anyone had told Renji that he’d be going up against these creatures twice in the same year, and that he’d become a war hero for his efforts, he would’ve called them crazy. In fact, Renji can’t even believe just how much he’s changed.

Back then, he’d been so scared, so traumatized and helpless, he’d honestly thought that it was all over for him; that he’d never get the transfer to a good and stable unit, that he’d never end up anywhere in his career, and that he’d forever be a disgrace to the Gotei. Renji had been in such a dark place back then, and he’d never thought that he’d get out.

But now… now he’s a corporal in a strong and amazing unit that he can take pride in, he’s helped in bringing down the most corrupt megacorporation for good, he’s faced off against his worst nightmares twice, and to think he’s now become a war hero for all of this… it seems almost impossible.

To think that so much can happen in only four years… it’s truly amazing.

“Oi, Abarai. Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout?” Hisagi asks him.

“Nothing, just… just thinking about everything that’s happened these past four years,” Renji says, shrugging slightly.

“Never thought you’d end up as a war hero, huh?” Hisagi teases slightly.

Renji can’t help but laugh a little. “Yeah, honestly. I never thought I’d become a war hero,” he says. “I thought I’d always be stuck in some dysfunctional unit, never to get transferred, and that I’d forever be the disgrace of the Gotei.”

“But look at you now, Abarai!” Mila Rose teases. “History textbooks are gonna honour you in the future for sure!”

“And some day, your children are gonna go through the rite of passage as they take on a Xenomorph Queen in a power loader…” Muguruma adds.

Again, Renji can’t help but laugh. “Don’t think I’ll be the only one, though,” he teases back. “Who knows? All you guys might get honoured too.”

“You really think so?” Soifon asks, looking slightly surprised.

“Well, yeah. You guys were all heroes in your own ways.” Renji smiles sincerely at everyone. “I’m really proud of you.”

“Oh, stop. You’re making me blush…” Yadomaru waves him off, hiding her face.

“Even me, man?” Bazz-B asks with a grin.

“Yeah, even you, Bazz,” Renji says, chuckling. “You make me feel like a tired mom sometimes, though. Every single one of you.”

As everyone laughs, Renji can’t help but enjoy this light feeling within him.

Today is definitely going to be a good day.

* * *

When the bus arrives at the Capitolio Nacional, a large Spanish colonial building with a cupola that has the Verdean flag flying, Zaraki has everyone get into formation right before the doors open.

Renji and Zaraki lead everyone outside, where they’re greeted with the musical honours being played by the Verdean military marching band. They march past the many units from Japan, America, and Val Verde, all of whom are standing at attention. Everyone is wearing their respective dress uniforms, looking sharp and sophisticated, a stark contrast to how they looked in combat.

Once they arrive at their designated seats, right at the very front of the steps leading up to the Capitolio’s entrance, Renji and Zaraki stand at attention, and the rest of the unit follow suit. On the steps is a podium, and two projector screens stand on either side of it.

Renji gets a brief glimpse of the other officers here; he sees Halibel and Morales up near the podium, looking sharp in their green dress uniforms. In addition, Kyoraku and Ukitake are there. Ukitake seems to be doing as well as ever, despite losing his arm in combat. In fact, his proud smile never leaves his face.

Once all the other units have shown up, that’s when the three Generals arrive.

Renji stands at attention as Generals Kuchiki, Tristan, and González make their way to the podium. All three of them are also in their dress uniforms, and General Kuchiki looks as sharp and elegant as ever in his coat with gold fringed epaulettes. Once they reach the podium, they stand at attention.

Then, an older man in a sophisticated suit emerges from the Capitolio, and the national anthem of Val Verde starts playing shortly after he reaches the podium. This man is President Alfonso Medina of Val Verde.

Everyone remains standing for the duration of the anthem, and once it’s finished, they all take their seats.

And that’s when the ceremony officially begins.

Medina starts his speech, and the projected screens display subtitles in both English and Japanese as he speaks.

“Good morning, everyone,” he says. “As you may know, last month, we were at war for seven days against an enemy like nothing we have ever faced before. Our enemies were both human and non-human. But we have received assistance from the Gotei Colonial Marine Corps of Japan, and from the United States Colonial Marine Corps from America, and it is with their assistance that we were able to defeat our enemies. And it is with my pleasure that we are able to honour those who have fought alongside us, and those who have fallen in combat.” 

He then gestures to General González to come up before stepping away from the podium.

General González comes up to the mic and starts speaking. “To begin, let us honour those who have fallen,” he begins. “In these seven days, we have lost people from our country, and from both Japan and the United States. And now, it is our duty to honour them and remember the sacrifice they made in protecting our country.”

He starts off by awarding posthumous medals to the Verdean soldiers who were killed in combat. Those medals will be collected by the families of the dead soldiers, as is common procedure for this kind of thing.

Then General Tristan does the same with the fallen American Marines, awarding them their posthumous medals and awards. She also makes a speech to honour them, and thanks them for their sacrifice before letting General Kuchiki come to the podium.

Renji feels a bit somber as General Kuchiki makes his speech to honour the fallen Gotei members. Among the dead recipients are Tousen, Shihouin, and Sasakibe, who all receive a Golden Iris for their sacrifice against the Company PMCs (in Tousen’s case), and against the Xenomorphs (in Shihouin and Sasakibe’s case). Tousen has no family, so his good friend will be collecting the medal in his stead, while Shihouin’s medal is collected by her younger brother, and Sasakibe’s medal is collected by his mentor.

After that part is done, it’s now time to honour the rest of the soldiers and Marines.

From Val Verde, Halibel and Morales are both honoured for their efforts with the Estrella de Coraje, the Star of Valour, for their leadership and bravery in combat. In addition, several other soldiers receive other official honours of the Verdean military.

Then it’s General Tristan’s turn to honour the American Marines for their efforts. There are quite a few who receive Purple Hearts, their award for being wounded or killed against an enemy, among other awards, and a couple of soldiers who even receive the Medal of Honour.

After General Tristan, General Kuchiki comes up for the presentation of the Gotei awards. Renji smiles slightly as he listens to the speech being given.

Shortly after the war had ended, Renji and Zaraki had both sent in recommendations for several of their squadmates, and he hopes to see them get their medals.

First is Hisagi, who is awarded with a Golden Iris, one that he accepts gratefully. After that, Kira and Yadomaru are both honoured with a Sacred Skies Medal, awarded for “heroism or achievement in flight”, especially for their efforts in transporting the wounded in combat area, as well as for how bravely they helped Renji and General Kuchiki get out of the garrison.

Both Kira and Yadomaru are thrilled to receive their medals, and Renji smiles proudly at them as they return to their seats.

Bazz-B and Mila Rose also receive an award for bravery in combat: the Senka Cross. It’s the second-highest honour in the Gotei, and they’re both rightfully pleased to be honoured like this.

The award ceremony goes on for a bit longer, and Renji gets to see Zaraki awarded with a Legion of Gallantry for his leadership skills in combat, as well as several other Gotei Marines receiving other awards.

Then, all three generals approach the podium.

“And now, it is time for us to honour one individual who has displayed true bravery and heroism in combat, who risked his life for his comrades, and who displayed strong leadership skills and strength against his worst nightmares,” General Kuchiki announces. “Corporal Abarai Renji, please come forth.”

Heart pounding against his chest, Renji gets up and makes his way to the podium. He’s a little surprised to be called up here by all three generals, but at the same time, he wonders what’s going to happen.

“Corporal Abarai is one of the many heroes of this war, one who has exhibited bravery and strength I have never seen before,” General Kuchiki begins. “He has defended many soldiers and Marines against our enemies, but above all, he willingly risked his own life for the sake of destroying the Xenomorph infestation for good. It takes a lot of courage to do such a thing, especially when combatting your worst nightmares, but Corporal Abarai went above and beyond the call of duty and actively fought back against the Xenomorphs for the sake of his men, for the sake of humanity.”

Turning to Renji, General Kuchiki regards him warmly as he continues. “Therefore, it is my honour to award you, once more, with the Gotei Colonial Marine Corps Order of the Noble Sakura.”

Renji’s heart nearly skips a beat as he watches General Kuchiki take out the medal from its case, and he bends his head slightly so that he can put the medal around his neck.

“Thank you, sir,” Renji says softly, shaking his hand.

Then General Tristan steps forth with a proud smile. In her hands is a gold medal attached to a sky-blue ribbon. “It is also my pleasure to award you with the United States Colonial Marine Corps Medal of Virtue, awarded to non-American soldiers and Marines who have displayed true bravery alongside us.”

Renji is stunned speechless. However, he smiles and gives his thanks to her. “Thank you, ma’am.” He shakes her hand before she steps aside

And lastly, it’s General González, and in his hands is a bronze cross attached to an emerald-green ribbon. “And lastly, I am proud to award you with the Verdean Armed Forces’ highest honour: the Cruz de Santa Barbára, awarded to those who go above and beyond the call of duty in combat.”

Now, Renji is completely overwhelmed. “Thank you, General,” he says, shaking his hand.

As he’s met with applause from everyone, Renji smiles shyly before glancing over at his unit. Everyone is smiling proudly at him as they applaud him.

That’s when Renji feels tears in his eyes, and he tries his best to blink them away.

His heart is beating hard, and all his emotions are a powerful storm inside of him. All Renji can do is remain silent until the ceremony finishes, and try not to let his emotions overwhelm him right now.

* * *

The rest of the ceremony goes by in a blur and after it finishes, everyone heads to the nearby convention center for the formal banquet.

In the banquet hall, Renji receives a lot of congratulations and thanks from various people, both civilian and military, and he makes sure to be humble when giving his thanks to them. He also gets to meet up with a newly-repaired Urahara, who congratulates him on his achievements, and after dinner, he meets with Unohana.

“Congratulations on your medals, Abarai-kun,” Unohana says sincerely. “You must be feeling proud of yourself.”

Renji looks down shyly. “I mean, I’m proud of everyone, honestly,” he says. “There’s really no need to congratulate or thank me. I was just doing my duty as a Marine.”

“There’s no need to be ashamed in feeling proud,” Unohana reassures him. “After all, it’s not everyday one becomes a war hero and faces their worst nightmares three times.”

Shrugging, Renji concedes. “I guess you’re right.”

As Unohana leaves to go and speak with others, Renji goes to his table to join Hisagi and Bazz-B for dinner. 

Seconds after he sits down, Renji suddenly finds himself locked in a tight hug from behind when a smaller figure practically throws their arms around his shoulders.

“I’m so glad you’re alive…” It’s Rukia, and her voice trembles slightly.

Smiling gently, Renji turns around and returns the hug. “Great to see you again, Rukia,” he says, pulling away. “You look nice.”

Rukia’s eyes sparkle with tears, but there’s a proud smile on her face. “Nii-sama told me everything,” she says. “Thank you for not dying, Renji.”

“Abarai-kun!” Orihime rushes over to them, Ise in tow, and throws her arms around him in another tight hug.

Again, Renji chuckles as he returns her hug. “Hey, Orihime, Ise,” he greets.

“Is it true you fought a Xenomorph Queen in a power loader?” Ise asks, raising an eyebrow. “That’s pretty impressive, Corporal.”

“Yeah, it’s true,” Renji says, blushing slightly as he pulls away from the embrace.

“That’s so awesome!” Orihime gushes. “Like a mecha anime or a kaiju movie!”

Renji can’t help but chuckle at that. “It was far from a mecha anime or kaiju movie, actually. Fighting that thing in a power loader was pretty damn stressful, to tell you the truth,” he tells them. “But that queen is dead, so you don’t have to worry about the Xenomorphs anymore.”

“See? You really are a hero, Abarai-kun,” Orihime tells him, smiling sweetly.

Yet again, Renji blushes quite deeply. “Oh, stop…” he mumbles.

Much to his dismay, Hisagi and Bazz-B start laughing.

“Dude, your face is as red as your hair,” Hisagi teases.

“Jeez, you get a compliment and suddenly you don’t even know how to respond!” Bazz-B laughs.

Renji doesn’t even bother telling them to shut up; he just smiles shyly and chuckles along with them.

For the most part, dinner is relaxed and pleasant. Renji enjoys talking with everyone and just spending time with them outside of training and combat. And as he looks around the room at all his squadmates, that’s when Renji really starts feeling a bit proud of himself.

Mila Rose and Muguruma are just spending time with one another and drinking wine. Madarame is introducing his boyfriend, Ayasegawa Yumichika, to Iba. Soifon is hanging out with Shihouin Yushiro, the younger brother of Captain Shihouin, smiling as she speaks with him. Kira and Yadomaru are talking and laughing while having dessert. And Zaraki is just having a conversation with Unohana. 

And that’s when it hits him as to just how much he cares about his Marines. Renji has spent four years with them, and he doesn’t want to lose any of them at all. While the majority of his unit are only serving for the duration of their contracts, Renji wants to see them all serve out their stint and go back home with good memories to think about.

And he’s going to make sure that they get there eventually.

Renji may have helped bring down a megacorporation, and he may have fought off heartless, dangerous alien creatures. But he knows that there will be more challenges in the future.

Yet Renji is unafraid. He’s ready to face them all head-on, whether they be Xenomorphs or any other enemy, and he will gladly lead his squadmates, his  _ friends, _ to rise up against whatever may come their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, "Heart of Darkness" is finished.
> 
> However, this series isn't over yet. Next up, we'll be going back four years to the harrowing events of Iwashiro in the first prequel instalment, "Nightmare of the Soul". I do hope you look forward to it~
> 
> Let me know how I did :) Have a good one!


End file.
